


Pinioned

by Creator_Chaos



Category: Kamen Rider OOO, Kamen Rider W
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon, a Kamen Rider-esque plot as the vehicle for character and relationship development
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:21:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27482623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creator_Chaos/pseuds/Creator_Chaos
Summary: A theft at the Kougami Foundation sends Eiji and a newly-revived Ankh to Fuuto, where they work with a certain detective(s) to figure out why both Cell Medals and Gaia Memories are being pursued by a mysterious group. Of course, staying with a domestic-bliss Rider couple is a unique experience, especially when undertaken with an asshole bird you spent several years reviving but are definitely not in love with.
Relationships: Ankh (Kamen Rider OOO) & Philip (Kamen Rider W), Ankh/Hino Eiji, Hidari Shoutarou/Philip
Comments: 23
Kudos: 40





	1. Magpies

**Author's Note:**

> So, I’ve been working on this story for 3+ years now on and off, and I wanted to basically finish it before posting. But you know what? It’s 2020 and the world is a shitshow, so I’m going to fling this into the void before society collapses. But really, I have over 44k words written and still need to fill in a bunch. I have spin-offs planned/drafted. I need to unburden myself, so here you go. 
> 
> I'm ignoring most movie/novel canon, except I need to accept time-travel Ankh to explain how Eiji has the medals. Major content warnings will either be added to the fic tags or included in author notes before each chapter. Feel free to request any specific warnings you need!

He heard from Satonaka about the theft first, an early knock at Cous Coussier while Chiyoko was redecorating for the day. Eiji was already dressing upstairs, into his usual billowing clothing, the costume for today's theme waiting until after he helped set up. When he heard two voices downstairs, he went to investigate. 

“Hino-san,” Satonaka greeted him as Chiyoko returned to her work with a concerned glance thrown between them. “I have a message for you.”

“From Kougami-san?” he asked, looking around for the usual screen she carried with her on such business. 

“He's preoccupied,” she supplied. “It's a delicate matter.”

Theft, she told him as they sat in a corner of the closed restaurant. Cell Medals, ones the foundation had from when the Greed were active, some they had experimentally synthesized. Data from their computers as well. Some employees had been killed. The security had been disabled--no one saw the culprits. 

“A tracking device hidden among the Medals showed the direction they traveled in first, but they disabled that soon,” she continued. “He’s already contacted Gotou-san about investigating locally; he would like you to investigate the last known location.”

“Of course. We'll go right away.”

“Good, I'll inform him and send you the coordinates.”

Once she left, he remembered to ask. “Ah, Chiyoko-san, I'm sorry, but can you manage the restaurant without me?”

“Of course,” she shooed him upstairs, “don't worry about this silly place! Get going!”

He thanked her with a smile and then let it fall as he climbed the stairs. People dying over medals again. He had hoped that was done with, or at least that it would be longer before it happened again. It had barely been a month since…

A pillow smashed his nose and bounced off his chest as he opened the door. “Are you trying to break the steps?” an irritable voice demanded. “If you’d walk like a normal person, I could still be asleep.”

“Normal person?” Eiji asked, a grin taking his face despite the worry. “That's rich, coming from you.”

It had been one month from Ankh returning until now, where he lay still half-curled on the bed, wearing boxers and one of Eiji’s shirts. He had tried to sleep in his clothes at first, but soon realized that feeling clothes on his own body was distinctly less comfortable than he remembered while in the detective. He had started out sleeping in his old perch too, had restored it to his liking as soon as they arrived, but at some point he had migrated into Eiji’s bed instead, and Eiji didn't dare question it. 

“Well?” Ankh demanded as Eiji retrieved the pillow and brought it back to the bed, throwing it behind him as he fell onto the edge. 

“Well what?” One month--long enough that he'd started to get used to the idea that he'd see these sharp glances, hear these caustic demands; almost long enough that he no longer woke in the night, hand reaching out desperately to check if yesterday’s experiences had been a dream, to make sure he didn't slip through his fingers again. 

“I heard you talking to Kougami’s lackey. What does he want?”

Eiji filled him in on the task he'd agreed to. “Will you come with me?”

Ankh huffed. “The alternative is staying here and putting up with the nuisance downstairs. Besides,” he added with a disinterested tilt of his head, “it involves Cell Medals. It could turn out to be worthwhile.”

Eiji smiled. “I'm glad.”

“Tch. So? Where are we going?”

“Oh, right, Satonaka-san said she'd send it to me--”

Ankh whipped out his phone--Eiji’s phone? Their phone? Eiji had it to keep in contact while he'd been traveling, but Ankh demanded one again when he returned, and there was no way Eiji was going to waste money on a second, and he didn't really use it much anyway. 

“Here.” Ankh pointed at the circled area on the map quite far from the city. “Haven't we been around there before?”

“Hm? Oh yeah, you're right, that's near… oh, that gives me an idea.”

\---

_Eiji had been too absorbed in reviving Ankh to give any thought to what would happen after, but the moment Ankh’s eyes fluttered open, he knew things wouldn't be the same between them._

_Their eyes met, and Ankh’s hand shot out to his shirt, the gesture stupidly, deliciously familiar. “I told you I was satisfied! I told you to stop reaching for me!”_

_The effect of his words was undercut by the tears rapidly brewing in his eyes, which he blinked back in bewilderment, but it was alright because Eiji was crying too and it was just the two of them anyway. “Wouldn't you love to know what living while satisfied is like?”_

_“That's not the point!” His voice cracked, and he looked down at his body like it was a foreign planet, but tried to continue. “I told you--”_

_“Then I did it for me!” Eiji snapped, tears he couldn't be bothered to stop leaving a salty taste on his lips. “I did it because I_ want _you back!”_

_Ankh faltered, eyes finally overflowing, his grip in Eiji’s shirt becoming almost painful. “Oh. That's--that's different then.”_

_Eiji laughed then, clasping his hands over the one of Ankh’s buried against his chest, and then Ankh was laughing too, except it quickly deteriorated into open sobs._

_“Ankh?” Eiji asked, suddenly shot through with fear._

_“I'm alive,” he whispered, bringing his head up to gaze at Eiji with that expression of wonder he'd seen him wear once before, when Eiji had thanked him. His face had been wet then too. “I'm really alive. I saw you sometimes…”_

_“You saw me?”_

_“And I knew what you were doing, and I couldn't help but hope… I'm really alive!”_

_Eiji held Ankh as he sobbed into his chest, overwhelmed with new life, and Eiji hiccuped into his hair, overwhelmed with the same. After they quieted they drew apart and dried their tears and talked about plans and logistics and not what just transpired, but it would definitely not be the same._

_\---_

“Are you sure you want to be here?”

Philip nodded, eyes focused ahead. “I want to see for myself, Shotaro.”

They ducked under the police tape and walked onto the ruins of the Sonozaki manor, following a reconstructed trail below the old mansion’s foundation. As they drew closer to the center of activity, Shotaro grabbed Philip’s hand, indifferent to the eyes of the police officers milling around them. Ryu stepped over to meet them. The Gaia Well lay behind him, covered and inconspicuous, but it loomed in Shotaro’s mind. 

“We don’t have any major leads yet,” he told them. “I’ve got people out canvassing for eyewitnesses.”

“How'd you find out?” Shotaro asked. 

“Someone reported a suspicious van with no tags parked near here last night. They described the vehicle but not much else. When we checked it out, we found a path cleared to access the Well.”

“Do you know if they were able to take anything from it?”

“I was hoping you could tell me.”

Philip stepped toward the Well with Shotaro hurrying behind him. “Hey, be careful--”

“I promise I won't fall in,” Philip smiled back at him. In a moment, he shook his head. “As I thought, I'll need more keywords. However, I can't imagine what they would have cleared this for if not to retrieve Memories.”

Ryu nodded. “I'll keep you updated as things turn up.”

“We'll start investigating on our end and do the same.”

Shotaro felt the tension radiating off Philip, and as they stepped away from the police line he slid an arm around him. Philip’s shoulders relaxed into the embrace as he gave Shotaro a pouty smile. “I’m alright, partner. It’s not like I don’t remember them anyway.”

“I know,” Shotaro sighed, punctuated by a contented hum as Philip wrapped an arm around his waist. “Just… we won’t let anyone use the Memories like that again, alright?”

Philip nodded, adding, logical as always, “I don’t believe anyone reasonably could. It took years to build up the means to develop Gaia Memories into something that could alter humans, with drivers or not. It’s hard to imagine what whoever took these plans to do with them.”

“Well, I intend for us to find out. Let's--oh,” he broke off as his phone rang. 

“If it's Aki-chan, tell her--”

“It's OOO!”

That caught Philip’s attention as much as it had Shotaro’s. They'd exchanged contacts after teaming up in case they needed help, but Eiji had reached out to them exactly once, to find out the specifics of how the Gaia Memories worked and to see if they knew anything about repairing Medals. Philip had found any information about the Medals difficult to access and none of the searches turned up anything promising. That was the last they'd heard from him. 

“Hello Hidari-san,” Eiji’s voice greeted as Shotaro answered the phone. “Do you have a minute?”

“Uh, yeah, what’s--what’s going on?”

“Medals were stolen from the Kougami Foundation, and the robbers were last located near Fuuto. I was wondering if you’d seen anything suspicious around.”

Shotaro glanced back at the police line. “Suspicious? Yeah. I don’t think it has anything to do with your Medals…” But two sources of power, that had fallen by the wayside for most people, targeted like this? His detective’s mind was already working. “Come to the agency when you get here, we’ll figure out where to go from there.”

“Thank you!”

“Oh, and…” He didn’t want to bring up a raw spot, but he’d seen Eiji while he was on his quest, and he knew from personal experience that the cause would never be out of his mind regardless. “Have you made any progress, with…?”

“Oh!” A small laugh. “I didn’t update you two, I’m so sorry! And after you were so helpful.” They weren’t helpful at all, but perhaps he meant in intention, or perhaps he was too polite for his own good. “He’ll be coming with me.”

Philip ducked in front of Shotaro, looking at his face curiously.

\---

_They were on a train shortly afterward when Eiji asked, because he could never leave well enough alone, because he couldn’t stand to get even marginally comfortable and have it torn away again._

_“What can you feel?”_

_Ankh took a sharp breath, as if a blow he’d been expecting had finally come. “Everything.”_

_“Wh--everything? You mean…?”_

_Ankh nodded. “Everything from you jostling the seats with your nervous twitches to my own heartbeat.” He placed a hand over his chest, a steadying gesture that was oddly... “It feels like being human.”_

_“But--but this is_ your _body, I mean, you’re still your Cores and Cell Medals.” He knew because he’d placed the repaired Core, placed_ Ankh _, on the pile of Medals, watched him reform into a familiar shape that Eiji had been almost afraid had been erased in his memory by the too-similar man it was based on. Eiji knew that his mouth was stupidly agape, and he was surprised that Ankh didn’t mock him and merely continued._

_“Medal bodies are only ever a response to what’s holding them together: Cores in the case of Greed, a desire directed by Greed in the case of yummies. I’d always wanted to experience more, but this time I had a reference for it, I’d experienced living in a human body. I think the Medals were able to respond to that, and give me a practically human body. Recreate the systems, instead of just making a shape.”_

_“Some of your Cell Medals were synthesized by Kougami,” Eiji said; his voice was choked, and he cleared his throat before continuing. “Satonaka-san said they’re part of new research on how to use them, that they’re supposed to interface with biological life more easily.”_

_Ankh nodded. “That makes sense then.”_

_“But… but you have a heartbeat, you can cry--”_

_Ankh’s hand was at his throat. “I said not to bring that up!”_

_“Jeez, fine!”_

_“It’s different being in my own body and I’m not used to its reactions, that’s all!”_

_“Okay, okay!” Eiji swatted his hand away. Weaker than he used to be. “Ankh, that’s… that’s…”_

_Eiji scrambled at the seat in front of him, retrieving a menu and shoving it at Ankh._

_“Ugh--what--”_

_“What do you want?” Eiji demanded._

_Ankh paused, looking at it then back up at Eiji with a wry smile. “You know what I want.”_

_He did, of course. He leapt from his seat and chased down the nearest attendant. “Excuse me! Ice--do you serve ice?”_

_“Um, yes, was there a flavor you--?”_

_“All of them!”_

\---

A few hours later, Eiji and Ankh left the Fuuto train station for a taxi that dropped them in front of a billiards room and a small sign that read “Narumi Detective Agency.” 

“This is it?” Ankh asked, nose wrinkled. 

“OOO!” someone called from down the alley. “Glad you made it, come in.”

“Hidari-san, it's good to see you! Ah, no need for rider titles, you can call me by my name. And this is Ankh.”

Shotaro got a good look at Ankh as they walked into the agency. “Hey, weren’t you a... floating arm...?”

“Not anymore.”

“Ah, well, um… Hino, Ankh, you've met Philip, and this is Terui Ryu and Akiko.”

“Narumi Akiko for work,” the very young-looking woman interjected, stepping up to shake Eiji’s hand. “I'm the chief of this agency.” When she offered her hand to Ankh, he looked at it and then back to her with casual disdain; her energetically professional demeanor transformed into an infantile pout as she huffed and went back to stand by Ryu. 

“It's good to meet you, Narumi-san,” Eiji said, trying to smooth things over with a little bow in her direction. 

Shotaro cleared his throat. “Well, Hino, want to fill us all in about your investigation?”

Eiji recounted once again the attack on the Foundation and the theft of Cell Medals, then listened as Ryu and the detectives filled him in on their own mystery. 

“I don't know how, but my gut tells me they're related,” Shotaro continued. “So I'd like to try working this together. If it turns out I'm wrong, we can always split up again.”

“Definitely! I'd really appreciate your help navigating the city. Please let me know what I can do.”

Shotaro grinned. “Great.”

“I guess we should find a hotel near here--Ankh, hand me the phone, I'll need to get Satonaka-san to rent us one--”

“Why don't you stay here?” Philip offered. “We've got space, and it'll make collaborating on the investigation easier.”

“Oh, no, we couldn't impose--”

“Philip’s right, it's no problem,” Shotaro spoke up. “There's no hotels particularly close, so it would save us all a lot of trouble.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I guess then we wouldn't have to bother Satonaka-san.”

“Bother?” Ankh demanded. “We're investigating for Kougami. Covering our board is the least they can do.”

“Maybe we could ask for a bonus if we don't charge them for that.”

Ankh opened his mouth, closed it, considered, then began texting quickly. 

“I really appreciate it,” Eiji added to the detectives. 

“It's not a big deal,” Shotaro said hurriedly. “We have the futon in the hangar, and I’m sure we could find a floor mattress somewhere…”

“Just the futon is fine,” Eiji said absently before catching up with himself. 

He froze, and saw Akiko quirk a brow at him from his periphery, but Shotaro barely hesitated before replying, “Okay, we'll show you around in a minute then.” Ankh didn't seem to have noticed what passed. 

“Eiji-kun, did you have a plan for investigating?” Philip asked, leaning forward across the back of a chair. “Terui Ryu will investigate through his role in the police, while Shotaro taps his information network. Hopefully, these will turn up enough keywords for me to conduct a successful look-up on our target. You're familiar with how those work.”

Eiji nodded; Ankh wasn't, but he was still absorbed in negotiations with Satonaka via text, so Eiji decided to explain it to him later. “I'm not sure I'll be able to contribute much besides my knowledge of Medals.”

“That will be important for doing a lookup,” Philip replied. 

“Yeah, and you can help me out on the footwork parts,” Shotaro added. 

“Oh, we don't know what they're doing with the Medals, but Ankh may be able to sense if they've managed to create yummies with them or reproduce them some other way.”

Shotaro nodded. “That could come in handy.”

“Hey,” Ankh spoke up, looking up from the phone and around the room, “is everyone here fucking?”

Akiko squeaked and covered her mouth, Shotaro’s eyes popped as his jaw dropped; Ryu stammered something that sounded like “Don't ask me questions!” Only Philip looked unoffended, eyebrows going up as he leaned towards Ankh inquisitively. 

“I’m so sorry!” Eiji cried, jumping up and bowing profusely. “He didn’t mean--I mean, he doesn’t--”

“He’s not wrong,” Philip overrode him. “Terui Ryu and Aki-chan are married, and Shotaro and I are partners.”

“Partners?” Ankh asked with a creased brow. “Oh, sexually.”

“In every sense,” Philip replied. “What about you?”

“I--?”

Philip gestured between Ankh and Eiji. “If you’re not, then no, not everyone here is.”

Ankh’s expression of offended disbelief was too delicious for Eiji to really register his own embarrassment. 

Ryu cleared his throat. “I'm going to get back to work then.”

“I'll go too,” Akiko added sharply, glaring at Ankh and seeming to restrain herself from pulling something out of her purse. Eiji thought about mouthing another apology at them as they left, but he'd brought the asshole to these people, so he figured he should accept the fallout. 

“Well, should I show you around?” Shotaro clearly addressed Eiji specifically, face tight. 

Eiji nodded. “Yes please,” he added ingratiatingly. 

It was a small place, and in a moment Ankh and Eiji were in the hangar, depositing their stuff by the futon and the Rider tech. 

“Ankh, why would you say that?” He merely shrugged in response, and Eiji huffed. “That’s not something that you just say to random people!”

“I was right.”

“That’s beside the point! Why would you even think to guess that?”

“Wasn’t a guess. I could feel it.”

Eiji paused in the middle of separating tomorrow’s underwear from his toothbrush. “Feel it?”

Ankh jerked his head toward the main room. “Their desires are different. Like a constant cycle. I haven’t felt that before, but I had an idea what it might be. I wanted to see if I was right. And I was.”

“Wait, you can still feel people’s desires like that? Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I had no reason to, obviously.”

“Oh. Well, that’s nice, though. They must love each other a lot.”

Ankh huffed and rolled his eyes. “Are we going to track down the thieves’ last location?”

“Ah, yeah.”

He expected to have to call another cab, but when they stepped out, Ankh tilted his head toward where a vending machine now sat in the alley outside the agency. “Only one. I'm driving.”

“No you're not.”

“I called it first.”

“Fine, but I'm driving on the way back.”

Ankh cut off a few cars but didn't get them killed, and they reached the coordinates where the tracking device had been destroyed: an empty field beside the highway into the city. 

Ankh looked around with narrowed eyes as Eiji dismounted from behind him. “They must have stopped here for a reason.”

Eiji nodded. “Enough of a reason to go through the Medals and find the tracking device, too. Where did the detectives say that Well was located?”

Ankh checked the phone. “Not close, but it's on the same side of town.” Eiji leaned over his shoulder to see him clicking through some notes Eiji hadn't realized he'd taken. “The tracker stopped here at 12:13 am and was disabled at 3:28 am. Their witness saw the van at their Well at around 1:45 am. That leaves a window where they could have sent some people to the Well, or met up with the people coming from it, and then found the tracker while going through the Medals for some reason.”

“You agree with Hidari-san, then? You think they are connected?”

Ankh shrugged. “It's simpler than assuming two separate groups would be doing this in the same place.”

“Well, let's take a better look around. Maybe this location is important or they left something behind.”

After a little scouting they found faint tire tracks in the grass. “They must have parked here.”

“Maybe. Anyone could have pulled up here.” Ankh gestured back to where their motorcycle had left its own trail in the grass, then narrowed his eyes. “Hey, you see something?”

Eiji followed his gaze to the far side of the field to see the tall grass swaying. The wind, he thought at first, and that did disguise it, but then his eyes adjusted to the pattern of an animal moving through. 

“No farms or forests near here,” Eiji murmured, voice dropping automatically. The movement drew slightly closer. “By the size, it could be a--large dog?”

“Movement’s wrong,” Ankh muttered. “Eiji, transform.”

“What? Is it a yummy?”

“No, I don't… but it's Cell Medals, I think.”

“You think?” The movement stilled. 

“Something's wrong, it's--Eiji!”

Suddenly the grass was moving in rapid waves toward them. Eiji flung the driver around his waist as Ankh tossed him the TaToBa Medals; he raised the claws just as a monstrous snake rose from the grass and crashed down on them. 

“Agh!” Eiji shrieked and flung it down into the grass. The length of its body trailed off out of sight, but its head alone was nearly as big as him and it glinted metallic. “What the hell is that!”

“Eiji, focus!”

The creature coiled back around and lunged at them again, Ankh leaping behind Eiji as he slashed down its neck. It fell to the side as Cell Medals scattered from it, slithering to a safe distance and circling them warily. 

“This is not a yummy! What the hell! Why is it like this!”

“Just deal with it!”

As it lifted its head and lunged again, Eiji used the Batta legs to kick off, coming down on its head in mid-air and scattering Medals everywhere. For a moment he thought it was done for, its body disintegrating, but instead of collapsing into a pile of Cell Medals it wiggled outward, dozens of snakes the size of his arm slithering away into the grass, clinking Medals as they went. 

Eiji jumped from foot to foot to avoid them, grimacing as they went, until Ankh grabbed him by the shoulder (for lack of a shirt to grip) and threw him back. “Idiot.”

“You deal with them then!”

“Sure. I might be able to use the driver like this. Hand it over, I’d probably do a better job.”

Eiji untransformed, a deeply offended scowl across his face. Ankh rolled his eyes. “Tch. Well, you can’t throw as well as I can anyway.”

Ankh leaned down to grab the scattered Medals as Eiji surveyed the battlefield. No trace of it left--they’d have to send out candroids to track it. And then figure out what the hell it was anyway. Whoever had stolen those Medals was certainly up to something strange. 

“Huh.”

Eiji turned back suddenly at Ankh’s sound of numb surprise. He held a Medal in the palm of his Greed hand. “What’s wrong?”

Ankh threw the Medal up in the air and let it land back on his palm, where it circled and settled and remained.

“Huh,” Eiji echoed. “What does that mean?”

“Too fleshy, I guess,” Ankh answered, clenching his hand over the Medal and pocketing it.

“But that’s--”

“Not something worth worrying about now,” Ankh replied brusquely, striding back to the RideVendor. “Come on, we still better gather them up.”

\---

Philip heard a strange mechanical sound outside before Eiji and Ankh entered the agency. “That took a while. Did you get lost, or did you find something?”

Ankh scowled and brandished the Medal from his pocket. 

“Oh!” Philip leaned in, examining it. “A Cell Medal, correct? What you're made of?”

A curt nod and Ankh pocketed it again. Philip looked disappointed, craning to peek at it as Ankh turned away. “Do you--want one?” Eiji asked, fishing one out of his own pockets. 

Philip gasped, taking it from Eiji and holding it up to the light. “I've always wanted to see one up close! This physical object is created from fulfilled desires? What sort of mechanism could accomplish that? Well, the Greed were created from alchemy, so the idea of ‘transmuting’ desires makes sense. But in traditional physics, it takes incredible amounts of energy to create any matter at all. To think that many of these could be created from a single person’s desire…”

He vaguely heard Eiji say something about a snake, but that seemed irrelevant to how Cell Medals formed. After another minute of talking to himself, he heard Eiji say louder, “Will Hidari-san be back soon?”

“Mm, he's investigating a lead.”

Eiji said something in reply that Philip paid no mind to, and then he was left alone in the agency. He was still puzzling out the mystery of the Cell Medal when Shotaro walked in. 

“What are you--ah!” he exclaimed as he saw what Philip held. “Did Hino and Ankh find that?”

“Mm. Shotaro, what do you suppose this is made of? I mean, I know it's made of desires, but is this actually solidified desires? Is it not composed of elements like other matter?”

“How should I know? Anyway, how did they find it?”

“Hm? I didn't ask.”

“You didn't ask? Philip, we're investigating! What’s with you?”

“Shotaro, I finally have the chance to learn about the Medals! I can’t access them in the library, do you have any idea how long that’s bothered me?”

“You didn’t care this much about it when Hino came on his own, you could have asked him about them then.”

“Shotaro, he was grieving! And I wasn't even able to help him, I couldn’t ask him about it! What was I going to say? ‘Oh, Eiji-kun, tell me all about your dead lover that you carry around in your pocket’?”

Shotaro rubbed his chin. “Actually, that sounds exactly like something you’d say.”

Philip pouted at him ferociously. “I have changed, you know!”

“Do I know?”

“You’re just jealous because I’ve grown but you’re still as half-boiled as ever!”

“Ehhh?” Philip gave a little shriek as he dashed away, Shotaro running after him. 

\---

Eiji and Ankh heard the shriek just before opening the hangar door. Shotaro had his arms wrapped around Philip from behind, who was laughing and curling in on himself as though being tickled. 

“Ah,” Shotaro gagged, releasing Philip. Philip, for his part, looked perpetually unperturbed. 

“Hi Hidari-san,” Eiji said, managing to keep a straight face. “We heard you come back and thought we should regroup after today.”

“R-right,” Shotaro managed. “Uh, how about we take you out to dinner and we go over it there?”

“Thank you!” Eiji exclaimed with a nod. “We'll give you some time to get ready then.”

“Y-yeah, uh, ten minutes!” Shotaro called as Eiji disappeared back behind the door. 

“Can’t they keep it reigned in?” Ankh grumbled.

“They’re not used to having other people living with them. Besides, I think they’re sweet. They’re really in love.”

Ankh scoffed. “What would you know about that?”

Eiji frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Have you ever been in love?”

Eiji froze for a beat. “Maybe not.”

“Of course not. If their desires are love, there’s no way you ever have been. You’d never want something for yourself like that.”

Another pause. “Is that so?”

The question was bit out between clenched teeth. Ankh narrowed his eyes and demanded, “What?”

“Nothing,” Eiji replied jaggedly. “You’re probably right.” He sighed, releasing the tension that was building in his chest and in his jaw, and added in a mutter, “You're probably right.” Ankh was looking at him like he might sprout wings (or maybe something that he hadn't actually done before), but Eiji didn't feel like soothing him. “Come on, get ready.”

“I am ready.”

“Your hair’s fucked up from the bike ride.”

He took some petty satisfaction in seeing Ankh scowl and fumble with his hair in the mirror on the wall.


	2. A Bird in the Hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flashback chapter. Spoiler: I'm never going to explain how Ankh's core was repaired because it's none of my business.

_ It wasn’t the same. How could it have been? Before it had been fighting yummies, fighting Greed, fighting each other, and the brief moments in between. Now there were no yummies, just the one Greed (who was just as human as not), and the moments stretched out ad infinitum with neither of them sure how to fill them. (Not that they didn’t still fight, of course.) _

_ They had gone back to Cous Coussier, because where else would they go? Eiji had lived day-to-day the entire time Ankh had been gone, and no one was ready to be imposed upon and insist it was no imposition like Chiyoko.  _

_ Before Eiji could even open the restaurant door, Chiyoko burst out of it, a whirlwind of excitement. “Eiji-kun! Ankh-chan!” She gave Eiji a brief, fierce hug before latching onto Ankh, hopping excitedly and jostling him as he froze, then squirmed away. “Oh, Ankh-chan, I’m so happy you’re back! It hasn't been the same without you both! Oh, look at you, you’re just like I remember!” _

_ After a little more gushing and wiping at the tears in her eyes, Chiyoko finally let them go, and they made their way up to the attic. Stepping into it with Ankh at his heels brought something strange to life in Eiji, so he spoke quickly lest he have to learn what it was. “Wow, it's almost the same, isn't it? Chiyoko-san mentioned that she had to get a few things from your nest-thing so you'll have to rebuild it, but there should still be plenty of--” _

_ Ankh grabbed him by the chin, and Eiji was used to that sort of thing from him, except the grip was a firm but gentle pressure and Ankh used it to tilt Eiji’s face around as he looked at it. _

_ “Wha--” _

_ “You’re older.” Ankh released him. “You don’t look like a child anymore.” _

_ “I wasn’t a child before!” Eiji sputtered.  _

_ “How long has it been?” _

_ “Ah… about three years.” _

_ Ankh nodded slowly. “You've been traveling.” _

_ It wasn't quite a question, but Eiji nodded. “Mostly. I came back a few times to visit, and for Date-san and Gotou-san’s wedding--oh yeah, you haven't heard about that.” _

_ Ankh shrugged. “Makes sense. They wanted to fuck back when I was here.” _

_ Eiji paused and heaved a deep sigh. “You didn't have to say that. I could have gone my whole life without hearing you say that.” Ankh looked entirely unapologetic, as usual, so Eiji just shook his head and continued. “Date-san still travels as a doctor, and Hina-chan is working and studying abroad now, but they're flying back to see you. I told everyone else here to wait until they get in, I thought you'd want some time to yourself first.” _

_ “Maybe I don't want to see them at all,” Ankh dead-panned.  _

_ “Well you're going to anyway,” Eiji replied briskly, dropping onto the bed, then added at Ankh’s grimace, “They want to see you.” _

_ Ankh tsked but didn't protest further, moving to sit beside him and lounge against the bedpost. “You still have the driver. And all the Cores.” _

_ “Yeah, it’s kind of a long story.” _

_ Ankh didn’t seem interested in hearing it at the moment. “But there’s no other Greed. No yummies to fight.” _

_ “Not unless you plan to make some.” _

_ Ankh gave a little smirk. “You’d kill me again and put the last three years to waste.” _

_ Eiji snorted. “No Purple Medals now. You’re safe from me.” _

_ There was a pause before Ankh repeated, “Safe.” His voice was unusually hesitant. “We’re… safe.” _

_ Eiji leaned forward, his fingers accidentally sliding around Ankh’s. “Yeah, we’re safe. As safe as anyone alive can be.” _

_ It occurred to Eiji that he had never before seen Ankh not immediately fearful for his life, and then he couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it before. It couldn’t have been because he didn’t recognize Ankh as alive: he’d known he was alive when he was a hand being attacked by the first yummy Eiji had ever seen--a monster, sure, but a living one. Maybe it had taken too long to learn what Ankh’s fear looked like, and by then Ankh had become almost a part of him, the keystone of his new life’s mission, and with his own inability to fear for his life it became impossible to take seriously the possibility that Ankh did.  _

_ Or maybe it was that Ankh’s fear was always cloaked in anger, and he’d never seen him unafraid before now.  _

_ Ankh glanced down at their hands, and Eiji pulled back. “Ah, sorry. Well, take your time settling in, I'm going to go check with Chiyoko-san when the others are coming. Have to plan your party!” Ankh grimaced at him as he slipped out the door.  _

_ \--- _

_ The welcome party was only a few days later; no one wanted to put off this reunion.  _

_ Hina got there early. Chiyoko was in the kitchen, Eiji was still moving tables around, and Ankh was lounging indolently at the bar. She plowed through the doors then froze, voice breaking a little as she said, “Ankh.” _

_ Ankh looked so much like a startled bird that Eiji feared he would fly away, but Hina took quick steps forward and captured him in her arms.  _

_ “Sorry we're early,” Shingo said, following in through the door and distracting Eiji from the scene. “She insisted on coming straight here, wouldn't even let us drop her luggage off.” _

_ Eiji assured him it was fine and he was glad to see them, and when he looked back Ankh and Hina had parted. He didn't think he was imagining the wetness in both their eyes. He smiled to himself.  _ Human bodies are hard to control, huh?

_ Shingo helped him finish setting up the room, leaving the other two alone for another moment. It wasn't until Shingo was there with him, chatting about the recent events in their lives, that Eiji realized Ankh looked different. There were the few years Shingo had aged, but he'd scarcely changed in that time, and it was things that didn't really change with age. Ankh’s bone structure was sharper, as if his cheekbones hadn't already been sharp enough to kill a man; his nose was longer (hawkish?) and his eyes were a touch wider. His face was almost unsettlingly symmetrical. This was how he saw himself, Eiji realized, and the Medals had responded accordingly.  _

_ Date and Gotou arrived maybe fifteen minutes later, Date sporting a fresh tan from his time abroad and Gotou a fresh haircut that he'd gotten for the ceremony honoring his recent promotion.  _

_ “Anko!” Date shouted, to which Ankh grimaced. “Still as surly as ever, I see!” _

_ Date harassed Ankh for a few more minutes, while Gotou went up to greet Eiji and wound up in some police banter with Shingo that Eiji didn't try too hard to follow.  _

_ Chiyoko was setting the food out on the conglomerate of tables they'd pushed together when Satonaka opened the front door and a delivery person wheeled in a large refrigerated box. There was some general oo-ing and aw-ing as she opened the box, and then a wave of scattering backward as a screen bearing Kougami’s visage shouted, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” _

_ The screen sat atop a particularly large cake, piped with red feathers of icing and fenced with red ice pops stuck into the sides.  _

_ “Hino Eiji, Ankh, congratulations! You have both achieved a great desire!” _

_ Eiji couldn't keep a goofy smile off his face, and gave Ankh’s shoulder a squeeze. Ankh shrugged him off peevishly.  _

_ “Your desires have accomplished some of the greatest feats I've ever witnessed! I can only imagine what you'll give rise to in the future. Cheers!” he added in English, raising a glass on the other side of the screen before it cut out.  _

_ Ankh muttered a German phrase that Eiji was pretty sure translated as “what the devil”, reaching forward and plucking an ice pop off the cake.  _

_ “Oh, Satonaka-san, send our thanks!” Chiyoko said, placing the last of the food on the table. “I hope you'll join us!” _

_ “Of course,” Satonaka replied, placing the screen in her bag. “I'm being paid to attend.” _

_ Everyone started filling in around the table, and when Ankh didn't immediately follow suit, Chiyoko went over and shooed him along like a lost chick. If it hadn’t been worth it before--which it was, it had been worth it the moment the pile of Cell Medals slid around Ankh’s Core and transformed into  _ his  _ Cell Medals, the moment Ankh’s eyes fluttered open, and if Eiji’d gotten nothing for his years of work but that vision and the knowledge that Ankh was living the life he’d always wanted, it would have been worth it--but if it hadn’t been before, this would have made it so, watching Ankh flutter nervously into the seat next to Hina, like a bird finding perch after a long flight. _

_ \--- _

_ Ankh sat at the bar, sucking on his fourth ice pop of the night. Everyone seemed to have agreed to let him have his fill of the ones off the cake, so he got something out of this party, at least.  _

_ At some point in the night people had switched from crowding around him to crowding around Eiji. This made sense; Eiji was far more responsive to being crowded, and Ankh knew that everyone cared far less that he was back and far more that Eiji could stop chasing a memory of him. (Besides Hina. He couldn't pretend not to know that.) _

_ It was at this point that Shingo approached him, leaning his back against the bar as Ankh lounged on a bar stool and started on his fifth ice. “You know, I can't eat those things anymore. I never cared for them much before, but I've always felt sick of them since then.” _

_ Ankh kept his voice carefully neutral. “Well, I haven't been able to eat them since then either.” _

_ Shingo snorted, then after a drawn pause asked, “You're not going to apologize?” _

_ He wasn't talking about the ice. Ankh met his eyes. “I wouldn't insult you like that.” _

_ Shingo held his gaze and then finally released it with a quick sigh of a laugh. “You tried to kill me, but you failed at that. And you didn't mean to save my life, but you did anyway. I guess I can say those cancel out.” _

_ Ankh shrugged. “Say whatever you want.” _

_ Shingo looked back at him sharply. “It's a little grating that you're still using my face though.” _

_ “Ah. That I would apologize for, but I can't change it. It's the only flesh I know how to wear.” _

_ Shingo made a face of disgust. “You could start by never referring to wearing my flesh.” His face suddenly smoothed into a smile, and Ankh followed where he was waving to see Hina looking at them in concern. He raised an eyebrow at her.  _

_ A moment later Eiji followed her gaze and looked at them in panic, that deer-in-headlights look that made Ankh want to smack it off his face. He settled for grimacing at him while Shingo gave another reassuring wave and then headed back to the crowd.  _

_ \--- _

_ Hina stayed with them almost the entire week of her break, with intervals to see her brother before returning. She hurried back every time, a little concerned and breathless, as if afraid that she'd be coming back to an empty attic if she didn't hurry. Eiji knew how she felt.  _

_ She had the most to talk about, not minding conveying every detail of her life in France as Eiji asked. Some things he already knew but asked anyway, because he wanted Ankh to know but knew he wouldn't ask. When she grew tired of talking she'd ask Eiji for stories of his travels, and he'd try to tell the exciting parts--the fun, the foods tried, the sights seen, the friends made--and stay away from anything that still felt too raw, Ankh’s revival included. Ankh said little and grumbled when they demanded his input, but he listened with his eyes on them for hours.  _

_ During one of Hina’s stories about a fashion show, she paused, looking embarrassed. “Actually, um--I want to show you one of my pieces.” _

_ She pulled out a folder and fished out some clearly professional photographs. They featured an androgynous European, blond pixie-cut hair spiked and styled. Shiny gold close to the body, Eiji couldn't quite tell the texture or shape--it was mostly covered by a chiffon overcoat, sapphire blue in the torso and sleeves, falling into a gem-colored train that Eiji recognized as a stylized peacock tail. It was embroidered in vibrant red, which was echoed in the pirate-like boots and the masquerade mask, the right side of which curled up into golden feathers.  _

_ Eiji and Hina both looked at Ankh, who was still staring at the photos. Finally, voice hoarse, he said, “It's me.” _

_ “Yeah.” _

_ “Why?” _

_ “Well, I thought about you a lot while you were gone. I couldn't do much to actually bring you back, like Eiji-kun was, so I thought--well, I'm an artist. What's the point if I can't bring what I love into the world?” _

_ Ankh stared for several more moments in silence, until he finally half-whispered, “It's beautiful.” _

_ Hina let out a choked sob and flung herself at Ankh, who carried on for a while about her suffocating him. Eiji smiled and looked back at the photos. It wasn't what he would imagine Ankh-inspired fashion to be--he'd always worn fitted reds and whites and blacks; or, if it was supposed to be based on him and not what he wore, maybe red and black leather, or--but no, he was just imagining recreating his Greed form, and Eiji supposed that's why he wasn't the artist, he didn't have the vision for it. Still, he could see Ankh in this, but it wasn't how he saw Ankh. It was beautiful, certainly, but there was also a softness in it that seemed misplaced.  _

_ Eiji looked back at where Ankh had mostly surrendered, and wondered what Hina saw in him that he didn't.  _

_ \--- _

_ Eiji woke once in the morning, so early it was still night, to find that they’d passed out in a pile atop each other like kids at a slumber party, his and Hina’s ankles tangled together, Ankh’s calves across his chest, Hina’s head on Ankh’s stomach and his arm splayed on her back (phone still in hand). He took a moment to savor it, the pressure and warmth of their bodies making the dimly-lit image real, before pulling away into a tight ball in a free corner of the bed, leaving them to grumble and shift in their sleep but sparing them all some embarrassment in the morning.  _

_ \--- _

_ Hina cried when she had to board her flight back to France. Eiji, Ankh, and Shingo came to see her off, Shingo stepping fully into his older-brother role and rattling off things she needed to make sure she didn't forget.  _

_ She forced a tight hug on Ankh that sent him wheezing. “Don't go anywhere,” she commanded, voice surprisingly firm despite the tears.  _

_ “I won't be able to if you keep breaking my ribs,” he grumbled back.  _

_ “Good,” she replied briskly. “I'll be back in a few months,” she added, turning to hug Eiji as he tried to stifle the sound of air being forced out of his lungs. “Try not to get in too much trouble.” _

_ “I'll do what I can,” he told her with a grin.  _

_ The three of them watched her flight take off together, and there was something morose in Ankh’s face.  _

_ “Miss her already?” _

_ “Hmph. I just think it's bullshit that she gets to fly before I do.” _

_ \--- _

_ Without Hina at Cous Coussier, with just the two of them living in that attic again--it was awkward. That didn’t seem right, that shouldn’t have been the word to describe the fulfillment of a years-long quest, but it was accurate. They just didn’t know what to do with each other now.  _

_ It was a week before Eiji asked Ankh if he had any plans to leave. _

_ “Where would I go?” was Ankh’s irritated response. “I’m sure I could figure out something on my own, but it would be a lot of trouble I’d rather not deal with.” _

_ “Ah, right,” Eiji replied noncommittally, not at all sure what his tone conveyed because he had no idea what he was feeling. _

_ Ankh looked at him critically for a moment before asking, “Do you want me to leave?” _

_ It sounded too much like an offer for Eiji to simply answer. “Would you if I did?” _

_ Ankh’s expression was strangely defiant. “I would, if you asked me to.” _

_ “Do you think I’d do all that to bring you back just to tell you to leave?” _

_ “Absolutely. Doing things that have nothing to do with what you want is your specialty. I think it’d be completely in-character for you to spend years bringing me back out of guilt and then want nothing to do with me.” _

_ The analysis stung, so his tone was harsher than he meant it to be when he replied, “And do you think that’s what I’m doing?” _

_ “No.” His face was guarded now, like he thought he might be walking into a trap. “You told me why, and I believe you. But it’s not like human desires--it’s not like desires don’t change.” _

_ That made Eiji feel he needed to reply. “I don’t want you to leave. I--I want you to stay.” _

_ A subtle tension seemed to ease out of Ankh’s face but sneak into his shoulders as he muttered, “I want to stay too.” _

_ After that conversation, what stuck with Eiji, a gnawing thought that he couldn’t quite parse, was that Ankh had admitted that he wanted something but would give it up if Eiji asked.  _

\---

_ It didn’t start until Hina left for her school abroad and they were back to their old sleeping habits at Cous Coussier. Eiji had drifted into an exhausted sleep after seeing her off, and Ankh was remaking his nest into something tolerable, when he heard the whimper behind him. He spun around, recognizing the sound of Eiji in pain probably better than he could recognize anything else on earth.  _

_ He still lay in his bed, no obvious external disturbances. But his mouth moved around tiny, formless whimpers and his fingers twitched anxiously. _

_ Just dreaming. He'd forgotten, how often nightmares plagued Eiji’s sleep. Ankh turned back to his nest; he’d intervene if he was still making noise when Ankh was ready to sleep, but otherwise he’d rather not wake him. _

_ He jumped again at a sharper sound, almost recognizable as Eiji’s voice. “Ah… An….” _

_ Ankh stepped over to the bed. “Oi, Eiji.” He said it a little below normal volume, which clearly wasn’t enough to wake him. _

_ “An… Ank…” The twitching had spread through his hand and almost to his arm, he was--reaching, Ankh realized belatedly. He was trying to reach out his hand. _

_ “Eiji!” He shook his shoulder roughly, and Eiji finally opened his eyes. _

_ “Ankh!” He seemed to be catching his breath, disoriented as his senses adjusted to reality. “You’re here!” _

_ “Obviously.” But then it wasn’t obvious, not to Eiji’s sleeping mind, which had so long of him not being there to draw from.  _

_ “Sorry, I was--having a nightmare, I think…” _

_ Ankh tsked and stepped back to his perch. “Just go back to sleep.” _

_ “Mm. You too,” he muttered, eyes already closing. “‘Night…” _

_ It happened again the next night, this time waking Ankh from where he slept fitfully in his nest. “Eiji!” _

_ “Ah!” He jumped, hand coming up to clasp Ankh’s where it gripped his shoulder. “Oh--oh no, did I wake you?” _

_ Ankh gave an annoyed sigh. “Just go back to sleep.” _

_ When this repeated on the third night, Eiji looked distinctly guilty as Ankh shook him awake. “Sorry! Should I go sleep downstairs?” _

_ “What? No,” Ankh bit back, pulling away and climbing back to his nest. “Just go to sleep!” _

_ He expected it the fourth night, honestly, and when the whimpering started, tried a new tactic. “Hey,” he whispered, trying to get Eiji to hear him without waking up. “I’m here, so cut it out.” No such luck--the twitching was back in his hand, making soft patting noises as it tried to raise itself from the bed. “Hey,” Ankh whispered again, putting his armored hand over Eiji’s to make it stop. _

_ Eiji gave a soft moan, not at all like the pained sounds he’d been making, and his fingers clenched into the sheets below them. A moment later, his breath was soft and even. _

_ The next night he knew what to do, jumping down as soon as it started and bringing his hand to Eiji’s. “Hey idiot, I’m right here,” he whispered for good measure.  _

_ He hadn’t considered that Eiji’s hand was palm-up this time, and his fingers closed around Ankh’s in a grip entirely too tight for someone asleep. It was several minutes before he could extricate himself without waking Eiji or giving rise to any more whimpers.  _

_ The next night, he ignored them for as long as possible, burying his head under a pillow for good measure, but they only grew more insistent. “Fine!” he hissed eventually, using all his willpower to keep his voice down and avoid stomping over to the bed. “I’m here!” He climbed over Eiji, remembering what a heavy sleeper he could be, laid out next to him, and grabbed his hand harder than strictly necessary. “Am I here enough for you, dumbass?” _

_ He was, apparently; Eiji quieted, gripping the proffered hand fiercely, and Ankh drifted back to sleep as well. _

_ He was woken by Eiji’s movements in the morning in enough time to see Eiji register his presence beside him and the following confusion. “Ankh? What are you doing here?” _

Ungrateful asshole _ , Ankh thought. “My nest isn't comfortable to sleep in anymore,” he replied as he turned toward the wall. “If you have any objections, you can take the floor.”  _

_ “Oh, uh, no?” Eiji stammered, sitting up hurriedly. Whatever. As long as they’d both get to sleep regularly now.  _

_ \--- _

_ One morning when Eiji went down for work, he came out of the supply closet to find Ankh taking the chairs off tables and sliding them into place. _

_ “Ankh?” he gaped. _

_ “What?” Ankh looked over at him crossly, then looked away. “Tch. It’s not like there are yummies or Medals to look for. I’m sick of sitting up there with nothing to do.” He turned back with a sneer. “I hope you didn’t expect to bring me back just for decoration.” _

_ “N-no, I--” _

_ “Anyway, I’m just figuring out what to do with my time. I’m sure as hell not going to talk to the idiots who come in here, so don’t ask.” _

_ Chiyoko came out from the kitchen as Ankh finished this statement. “Oh, Ankh-chan, are you going to help out? You could pay for your own ice that way!” Ankh scowled but, to Eiji’s utter bewilderment, didn’t retort. “I know, I can train you to help me in the kitchen! It’ll be good for you to know, too, since you have to eat now!” _

_ Eiji had first wondered if he was in love with Ankh while trying to revive him. He wasn’t quite as naive about that as people thought, and of course he had to wonder what it was that was driving him to dedicate his entire life to this quest. His answer wasn’t neat: he wanted to see Ankh again. He wanted to give him a chance to live, believed he deserved that. He couldn’t bring himself to accept a world that Ankh wasn’t in. But he didn’t think he could call it love. He was admittedly inexperienced on that end: a few short flings in high school, a handful of chaste flirtations in his travels. But their time together had been too virulent, too messy, too devoid of tenderness for Eiji to really think of it like that.  _

_ Eiji knew that he’d been right not to call it love, because watching Ankh listen to Chiyoko as she explained the organization of the spice cabinet, a slightly resentful pout on his lips, was like something clicking into place, like all the cogs and wheels had been there and it had taken only that slight show of softness to ease them all into alignment and send something whirring to life within Eiji. That was the first moment he knew he was in love with Ankh, and it was definitely different than what he’d felt before. _

_ “Oh, fuck.” _

_ He hadn’t realized the whisper had slipped from his lips until Chiyoko broke off and glanced at him. “Eiji-kun, did you say something?” _

_ “Uh… good luck.”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Putting this out here has finally motivated me to iron out my scattered plot points and fill in the chronological blanks, so thanks so much for the feedback!


	3. Sitting Duck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Discussion of cults. Similar levels of discussion may appear in subsequent chapters.

They wound up at a nearby ramen stand where Shotaro was apparently a regular. Ankh grumbled a bit as they got their bowls and grabbed one of the public tables in the square, just for good measure, but it was actually decent enough. 

“Alright,” Shotaro started as they all settled in, “Hino, you go first.” 

Ankh had intended to pay attention, because he could never trust Eiji to explain things properly, but unfortunately Philip did not have the same intention. 

“Ankh, can you tell what desire created this?” Philip was holding up the single Cell Medal Eiji had given him. 

“No,” Ankh snapped. 

“I see. So the desire that formed your Cell Medals wouldn't affect you?”

“What? No! It's all the same.”

“Hmmm, so all desires are distilled into the same substance, regardless of their origin…”

Philip took a slow slurp of his ramen, seeming to take mental notes. Ankh shoved a bite in his mouth and tried to pick up on where Eiji was, but both he and Shotaro seemed overly involved in describing the giant snake, as if it mattered exactly how big it was (“It could fit me in its mouth!”) or how many snakes it had dispersed into (“There were so many! Augh!”). 

“Eiji-kun said you can feel when Cell Medals are produced,” Philip started again, apropos of nothing. “What does it feel like?”

“Can't describe it.”

“Not at all? Is it separate from your other senses?”

“Something like that. Didn't change when I got real senses, anyway.”

“Got real senses? Ah, right, I was able to find some surface-level information about the Greed in the bookshelves. I wonder why you were able to transcend your original form upon revival. Speaking of which, how did Eiji manage to revive you?”

“Ask him yourself,” Ankh replied tersely. 

Philip tilted his head consideringly, then nodded and turned. “Eiji-kun, how did you--” 

“Oi, Philip! I was about to explain what I found!” Shotaro snapped. “Are you paying attention at all? I thought you cared about this investigation too.”

Philip quieted, sulking into his ramen. Ankh was grateful for the half-boiled detective for the first time, now finally able to listen to the relevant conversation. 

“Anyway, the police turned up the witness who called in the tip, so me and Terui went to see them. As you may imagine, there was something they didn't tell us.” Shotaro paused to take a bite, clearly building dramatic tension. “Turns out they did see some of the thieves, and recognized one of them to boot.”

Shotaro pulled out a grainy print-out of an ID photo for a rather boring-looking young man. “Murakami Kenta, Fuuto native. Our witness went to college with him, but said he dropped out last month. He was apparently getting very involved in what he called his ‘chemistry club’; the witness remembered that as being odd, since he was a business major.”

“So what, this chemistry club is whatever group is behind the robberies?” Ankh asked. 

“That's a weird thing to call it,” Eiji mused. “Chemistry… maybe making bombs, or poison? Mm, but there wasn't anything like that at either robbery.” 

“Seems like we should ask Murakami ourselves. Unfortunately, he wasn't at his address on file when Terui and I went. Terui left a plainclothes officer there to see if he comes back, but I figure he's in hiding or holed up wherever the rest of the thieves are.”

Eiji frowned. “Does he have any family? They might know where he could be hiding.”

“Actually,” Philip interjected again, “I don't even know how the Medals were created in the first place. I mean, I know it's something about alchemy, but that's an incredibly broad domain. Was there a specific person who--?”

Ankh lifted his bowl, prepared to fling it at Philip, but Eiji’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. Broth sloshed onto the table. “Ankh!” Eiji snapped; both detectives were looking at them. 

“Tch!” Ankh slammed the bowl down and swung up. “I'm done with this, just tell me what you decide to do!”

He stormed off, not bothering to look for where they left the RideVendor (he figured taking it might piss off Eiji enough that he’d come stop him, and he really didn't want to be interrupted). It had been a short ride over from the agency, and after a few minutes he recognized enough landmarks to know he'd been right about the distance being walkable. 

Of course, once he got to the agency, the door was locked. He gave it one good kick just to try, but it didn't budge and instead sent a shooting pain through his leg that reminded him that a fleshy body was full of drawbacks as well as rewards. This also made scaling the side of the building onto the roof a little trickier, but he was pleased with himself that he managed it without mishap. 

Between the walk and the climb, he was exhausted as he settled onto the highest point on the roof and watched the road below, not for anything in particular, he told himself. Still, particular arrived soon enough, following behind the detectives. 

The detectives didn't know to look up, but Eiji did, sparing a quick glare for Ankh before the detectives could notice. 

“Is, uh, everything going to be okay with Ankh?” Shotaro asked Eiji. 

“Oh, yeah,” Eiji replied, face and voice the image of calm. “Don't worry, I'll go get him later.”

Ankh watched the sun set and the first stars twinkle into existence in the twilight before he heard Eiji call up for him. 

“Ankh, come inside.” Ankh ignored him, waiting to observe his next move. “You barely ate any dinner, right? You must be hungry.” Ankh peeked over the roof to see Eiji brandishing an ice pop at him. 

“Tch.” Ankh hopped onto the metal awning with a loud clang and then leapt to the ground. 

“Are you sure you should be doing that now?” Eiji asked with a frown. 

Ankh snatched the ice from his hand. “I'm fleshy, not a clumsy idiot.”

Eiji rolled his eyes. “Anyway, the plan is for Philip-kun to look up Murakami tomorrow morning. I didn't think that seemed like much of a plan, but Hidari-san said it's almost certain that he can find him with the info we have.”

Ankh raised an eyebrow above his ice. “Then why not do it tonight?”

“He, uh… doesn't want to.” Ankh made a noise of disbelief. “Yeah, I don't really get it either, but he said he was going to try some different ideas on how to research Medals. Hidari-san seemed relieved that he could talk to him enough that he promised to do it tomorrow.”

“What a useless pair.”

“Ankh, you should be nicer to them. I mean, Philip-kun seems like he actually likes you. That’s not exactly a common occurrence.”

“ _ Likes _ me? He thinks I’m a goddamn science project!”

Eiji hesitated at that. “Well, maybe. But he’s like that with everyone.”

“You think I don’t know that? I can feel his desires. He wants to stick his grubby little fingers into everything and see what makes it tick, and I’m not interested.”

“‘Grubby little’--? Ankh, he’s not a three-year-old!”

“Might as well be,” Ankh huffed, then narrowed his eyes. “You act like you know him better than I do.”

“Ah, a little. I visited here while you were--gone.”

“Oh?” Ankh asked, then rounded on Eiji. “You have him look me up?”

“I, uh, I tried to, yeah. For fixing your Core. But it didn’t work, he couldn’t access anything about you or the Medals.”

“Hmph. Just as well then. I don’t want him poking around in whatever the Earth has to say about me.”

“It can't be any worse than what everyone else has to say about you.” Ankh bared his teeth at him. “Now come inside, we're getting up early tomorrow.”

Ankh considered being stubborn for longer, but just grumbled and followed Eiji inside. The ice was very good, after all. 

\---

Eiji woke the next morning to the smell of coffee, which reminded him right away that he was in a new place. Occasionally Chiyoko would get to the kitchen before he woke up, but coffee wasn't a particular feature of the restaurant; so of all the smells that might wake him there, coffee wasn't among them. 

He sat up and stretched, then reached down to find Ankh by his side. “Wake up,” he said groggily, “we gotta--”

Ankh slapped his hand away. “I'm awake.” Eiji’s eyes cleared enough to see Ankh tapping away at a game on his phone screen. 

“Right. You're an early bird.” Ankh slammed the phone down as Eiji leapt out of bed and got dressed. “Come on, let's see if Philip is going to do the look-up.”

Ankh stomped out after him, probably still mad at the bird joke, and they found the detectives in the kitchen, Shotaro pouring out coffee and Philip sipping from a mug at the table. 

“Morning,” Shotaro greeted. “I made enough coffee for you.”

“Ah, thank you!”

“I still couldn't access anything,” Philip whined into his cup. “I should be able to access anything in the bookshelves, but I keep getting an error. It's like the Earth doesn't want to remember.”

“A-ah,” Eiji started, unsure what he was supposed to think about that. “Will you have a problem looking up Murakami?”

“Him? No, that should be easy, I don't need to know anything about Medals just to find out where he is now.”

Shotaro brought three cups of coffee over, leaning one arm on the table as he drank. “We'll be heading out as soon as we know, so make sure you're ready.” Eiji nodded, taking his cup. 

Ankh took one sip of his coffee and spat it back into the mug. “Ugh! It's bitter!”

“Ankh, don't be rude!”

“What, is it supposed to taste like this?”

“It's an acquired taste,” Eiji replied. “Here, try adding a little more sugar and cream.”

Ankh added cream until the “coffee” was just off-white, then tilted the sugar over it and watched it pour. And pour. And pour. 

Shotaro looked disgusted, while Philip looked deeply, personally affronted. 

“So,” Eiji continued as Ankh finally stopped pouring and took a sip. He imagined he could hear the sugar crunching in his teeth. “What  _ do _ you need to know to find him?”

Philip took another sip of coffee before swinging up from his chair, grabbing his blank book off the bed. “What we have should be sufficient.” He took a pose Eiji had seen when he'd visited last, arms spread as if opening himself to the world’s knowledge. "Murakami Kenta of Fuuto… looks like he's the only one… first we'll see if there's any info since the thefts… Perfect,” Philip murmured. “Huh… uh-oh.”

“Do you know where he is?” Eiji asked. 

Philip opened his eyes and relaxed his arms. “Fortunately, yes. You better hurry there.”

Shotaro was grabbing his hat and coat. “Why? Is he on the move?”

“No. The snake is.”

\---

Shotaro sped down a series of back roads on the HardBoilder, Eiji and Ankh following him until they all skidded to a stop at the cheap hotel on the edge of town Philip had directed them to. Shotaro ran in first and they followed behind, past a thankfully deserted reception desk and up two flights of stairs. 

Shotaro pulled up short at the room Philip had indicated. "Murakami!" he called, knocking sharply. "Open up!"

Eiji followed up behind him as he knocked insistently. "Murakami-san! We need to talk to you, it's an emergency!" 

A moment later Eiji grabbed Shotaro's arm, halting his knocking. Eiji winced and gestured at a door down the hall, cracked open as someone peered out. "Maybe he stepped out?" he whispered. 

Shotaro sighed, gesturing Eiji and Ankh with him down the hall to an alcove of vending machines. "Let's look around the hotel first. I can ask Philip to check for any signs he may have left. One of us should stay to watch--"

It was at that moment the hotel room door burst open and a man hurtled out of it and down the hall in the opposite direction. 

"Shit!" Ankh hissed, darting after him. Eiji and Shotaro sprinted down the hall with him as the man skidded into the elevator and mashed the buttons. 

The doors met just before Shotaro could test his luck (and the elevator's motion sensor) by wedging his hands between them. Instead, he banged on the closed doors. "Dammit!"

"Over here!" Eiji shouted, having found a second flight of stairs adjacent to the elevator and flung the door open. 

Shotaro heard Ankh call behind him "He's headed down!" before they all hit the stairs. They came out on the ground floor, next to an employees-only door and out of sight from the entrance. Ankh pivoted to press the button for the elevator, but it failed to appear. 

"He couldn't have beat us down, could he?" Eiji panted, darting to look up and down the neighboring halls. 

Shotaro glanced around and cursed. "There's a parking garage! He kept going down!"

They were back in the stairwell and halfway down the next flight when they heard the scream. Shotaro slowed to get the driver around his waist, but the sound seemed to give Eiji new life, and he jumped ahead as Ankh yelled after him. 

_ Philip!  _ Shotaro called as he felt his partner overlap with his mind. 

_ Ready!  _ Philip mercifully replied, before Cyclone appeared in the driver. 

Shotaro activated Joker as he ran into the parking garage. Through the haze of transformation, he saw a gargantuan snake, like something from a dinosaur exhibit or a cheesy science fiction movie. More like the latter, really, since it looked roughly the texture of titanium and moved in the disjointed jerks of a faulty animatronic. This didn't seem to slow it down, though, and it was curling towards a man cowering on the ground, rearing its head back to strike.

Shotaro also saw Eiji, belt not even on his waist yet, run in and drag the man to the side just before the metallic snake head smashed into the concrete; and heard Ankh curse loudly as Double ran past, landing a hit on the snake's head that flung it back into the garage wall.

Behind him, Eiji shouted over the man's screams. "Ankh, take him!"

"Fine, just transform already!" Ankh yelled, and then the garage was filled with the sound of OOO's standard transformation. 

The snake was lifting itself up, so Double focused their attention where it belonged, hitting it again before it could regain its balance. Eiji ran up to flank it with them, slicing down its side with OOO's sunshine-yellow claws. 

"Any ideas on how to destroy this thing?" Shotaro called between attacks. 

"I don't even know how it exists!" Eiji shouted back. 

"Wear down its Medals!" Ankh yelled. 

_ Then let's get some blunt force,  _ Philip thought.

"Right," Shotaro replied, switching out Joker for Metal. The next time Eiji knocked the snake back towards them, they caught it with Metal's pole. Cyclone's wind drove it to gouge halfway through the snake's body, scattering Cell Medals around them. 

The snake teetered, head waving back and forth between the Riders even as its body shifted to reform itself. Double braced for the next attack, but its Medal body kept shifting, thinning as Medals seemed to flow behind it…

Suddenly its tail lifted up, only now the tail was a second head and had detached itself from the body; now there were two snakes each half the size of the original, and the second shot around the two Riders as the first bore down on them.

They caught its head together, Double bracing the staff in its jaws as Eiji hooked his claws into its neck. Behind them, the man screamed above the sound of the snake colliding with a wall, and Ankh shouted for Eiji sharply.

Double gestured with their head and the two Riders tossed the snake off them. “Go, we’ll take this one!” Shotaro called, and Eiji nodded before disappearing towards the noise. 

Double kept at the first snake, dodging its lunges and attempts to encircle them and beating Medals free. This wasn't particularly challenging, but the issue came when it merely slithered over the loose Medals and reintegrated them into its body. 

_ Let me try something _ , Philip offered. With their next attack, the wind from Cyclone picked up, sending the Medals scattering across the garage. A few more hits with this technique, and the snake was looking noticeably smaller. "It's working!" Shotaro shouted, sparing glances towards Eiji between attacks.

That snake was looking reduced as well, but Eiji seemed to be having a different problem. Though he'd kept the main body away from it's apparent target, the cascades of Medals he was clawing free were turning into smaller snakes of their own and beginning to swarm around Murakami as Ankh tried to play keep-away with him. 

Ankh turned back long enough to shout Eiji's name and toss two Core Medals to him. Eiji deftly caught them, and transformation sounds rang out as Eiji swapped his Medals. The arms turned blue and replaced the claws with whip-like protrusions, and the legs turned gray and bulky. Thus equipped, Eiji darted in front of Ankh and Murakami, stomping one foot and sending a tremor out before him.

The snakes responded to the vibrations, stopping their pursuit and rearing back in confusion. Eiji moved and stomped again, herding the snakes together and striking out with his whips. As they broke apart and Double turned back from another attack, Philip sent a gust from Cyclone Eiji’s way that scattered their Medals apart. 

"Let's try to wrap this up," Shotaro said, adjusting his grip on their staff. 

_ Right,  _ Philip agreed. They poured their power into the next strike, fueling the staff with wind until it cut through the snake from head to belly, crashing into the floor with the remaining force. 

The split halves wobbled and swayed, then slowly began merging back together. Shotaro cursed--what was it going to take to make this thing quit? As the snake reformed almost to the head, Philip gasped.

"It's a Memory!" Philip shouted, surprised enough to verbalize his thoughts. Shotaro registered where their shared gaze rested and saw a rough crystalline form disappearing back into the snake's head as the Medals stitched themselves together. "It's being fueled by a Memory!"

"Alright, then we know what to do!" 

_ But the Medals might absorb the force of a Memory Break. We should land as direct a hit as possible. _

"Hino!" Shotaro shouted. Eiji looked over from where he had corralled the snakes away from Ankh and Murakami. "I need you to do some major damage to this one!"

"Uh, okay!" Eiji called back. He shouted to Ankh for another Medal and switched his legs to yellow. After one more strike with his whips to drive his snakes further back, he blurred across the garage, whips wrapping around the original snake's head before he yanked them down, tearing the snake's head apart and exposing the Memory again. 

Double was ready, slotting the Metal Memory into the staff. With a cry of "Metal Twister!" they spun forward, crashing the staff into the Memory with all their power.

They saw it shatter, fragmenting like the Memories they faced never had, into glass-like slivers. At the same moment, the Cell Medals fell apart, filling the garage with the echoes of their clanking. They turned back to see the other snakes also dissolving into piles of coins. 

Double reached down and grabbed the largest Memory fragments, then pulled the driver closed. Philip spoke in Shotaro's mind before he could remove it. 

_ Leave the driver on. I want to hear what he has to say. _

_ Okay,  _ Shotaro thought back to him, pocketing the Memory fragments as he strode over to where Murakami was huddled against the wall, Ankh leaning with his arms crossed above him. Eiji had already untransformed and crouched down beside him, gently asking if he was alright.

"Look, I don't know anything about that thing!" Murakami stammered. Shotaro had to stop himself from rolling his eyes where the man could see. Eiji hadn't even  _ asked _ him anything yet. He might as well have written "guilty" across his own forehead. 

Instead, Shotaro just shrugged carelessly. "That's fine, I guess. If you don't know anything, this must have just been a coincidence. Run along then." He turned, pausing for a beat as Murakami started to struggle to his feet. "No reason for you to think something would come for you again, after all."

Murakami staggered on his next step, and Eiji moved forward to protest until Ankh clapped a hand over his mouth and pulled him back, growling something in his ear.

Shotaro leaned against a pillar, gazing out toward the street. "Of course, if something  _ was  _ after you, we could protect you. We'd probably be the only way you could stay safe from monsters coming after you. Ah, but that's just theoretical, of course."

Shotaro felt Murakami's tenuous defenses dissolve. “Wait!” he called to Shotaro’s back. Shotaro turned to face him languidly. “You’d really… I mean, if this wasn’t just… you’d protect me if…”

“Well, I’d want to know why something was after you, of course. Maybe it had something to do with why you were seen at the ruins of the Sonozaki estate two nights ago?"

Murakami swallowed heavily. "Look, I--I didn't know what they were going to do! That's why I ran, I wanted out!"

Shotaro raised an eyebrow. "You ran?"

"Yeah, when they--when that giant snake thing…" Murakami stammered and paused, catching his breath. "I tried to hide out here, but they must have found me somehow and sent it after me!"

"You used a card with your name on it, you weren't exactly hard to find," Shotaro sighed. "Okay, so you're saying you were with this group at the estate but didn't know what they planned to do?"

“I mean I--I knew what they were planning, generally, but… look, talking about that stuff is one thing, but seeing a real monster just come to life right there is something else!”

“Oh yeah,” Ankh drawled, “terrifying.” Murakami flinched, eyes darting to Ankh’s Greed hand. 

Shotaro merely nodded. "So you were okay with the idea of monsters, just not seeing them. How about the murders? Were you okay with that before you saw it too?"

"No! I didn't even know they were stealing from some big organization, and I definitely didn't know they were going to kill people over it! All I was involved with was getting the Memories! It was just taking stuff from an old ruin, no one was getting hurt!"

Shotaro slammed his hand onto the wall by Murakami's head. "No one was getting hurt? You're from Fuuto. Dopants have slowed down over the last few years, but I know damn well you remember what it was like at the height of them. Don't you  _ dare _ say no one was getting hurt by you taking Memories!"

Murakami flinched, eyes on the ground. Shotaro stared at him steadily and continued. "If you want me to believe that you didn't mean to hurt anyone, and you just have  _ exceedingly _ poor judgement, then you'll need to do everything you can to help us stop this. Who's behind this?"

Murakami looked around squirrelishly. "You'll really protect me, right?"

Shotaro didn't try to hide the roll of his eyes this time. "They're already sending monsters after you, I don't think you can make this any worse for yourself." But he turned to Eiji. "Hino, can you call up Terui and get him to arrange protection for our friend here?"

"Right!"

"There. Our friend in the police will keep you nice and safe while we figure out how to stop them. Now talk."

Murakami bit his lip and nodded. "They call themselves Bacchanalia." Shotaro quirked a brow and gestured for him to continue. "It, well, um… I've been thinking about it since I ran away from them, and, y'know... I think it might be a cult?"

"You… you think you joined a cult without realizing it?"

"It's not like they advertised themselves as a cult!"

"Okay, okay, I guess people generally don't go around joining cults on purpose. How  _ did _ they advertise themselves, then?"

Murakami shrugged. "I don't know. Someone online was talking to me about this group they were part of that taught you how to manifest your desires. I checked it out, and… it just kind of spiralled from there." 

Laughter erupted from Ankh. "Manifest your desires? I take it they were a little more literal about that than you bargained on?" Eiji, done with the call, elbowed Ankh in the side.

"I mean, at first it was just the standard New Age occult stuff, y'know, visualizing and intentions and energy and stuff. They were really big on like, transforming your desires into energy."

"This sounds like Kougami's bullshit," Ankh muttered under his breath. Shotaro glanced at them to see Eiji grimace and shrug. 

"And then they started talking about tools and artifacts to channel your power, and… I don't know, it seemed reasonable at first and then the next thing I knew we were breaking onto the old Sonozaki estate to get Gaia Memories."

"How did you do that? Get the Memories, I mean."

Murakami shook his head. "The people actually getting them were way higher level than me. I was basically just moving rubble out of the way." He looked at Shotaro's face and added, "They were using some small, weird machines I've never seen before. I guess you can't just reach in and grab Memories, right?"

"And making the snake? How'd they do that?"

"After we were done at the Gaia Well, we went and met up with some of the other members--"

Shotaro cut in. "Wait, done  _ where _ ?"

"Th-the Gaia Well, you know, at the old Sonozaki estate."

"Yes,  _ I _ know that. How do  _ you _ know it's called that?"

Murakami shifted nervously. "That's what the leaders were calling it. Is that weird?"

Shotaro paused as Philip spoke in his mind.  _ They know things only Museum should have known. We need to know who's in charge, and how they got their information. _

Murakami was staring at Shotaro, so he merely shook his head. "Nevermind. Go on."

"Um, well, when we met up, the others had these huge containers of these… coin things.” Murakami gestured at the Cell Medals littering the garage. “And one of the leaders took a Memory and tossed it in one of the containers, and it turned into that giant snake!"

"Just tossed it in? That's it? They didn't do anything to make them combine?"

Murakami shrugged. "Not when it happened. Maybe whatever they used to get the Memories did something, I don't know."

Shotaro sighed. "Right. Then how about you give us the names of the people who do know?"

"I… um… well, the thing is, no one used their real name." He looked at Shotaro's expression of disbelief. "I'm serious! That was part of the initiation. Everybody gave themselves a name. They said it was a--manifestation thing."

"A manifestation thing," Shotaro repeated blankly. 

"Y-yeah. Uh, I can tell you the last place we were meeting. But they said we were headed to a new place after getting the Memories, so I don't know if anything will be there anymore."

"Right. You do that."

Ryu and a handful of other police officers pulled up as Shotaro was jotting down the address in his notebook. He tore out the page, handing it to Ryu as he approached. 

"Can you get some people to look into this? He said it's probably abandoned by now, but I still want them to be careful."

"Sure. Hino-san told me the gist of what's going on, so I'll call you to cross-check his statement once we get it."

"Sounds good. Be careful with him, we don't know what sort of tricks these people can pull."

"Right. And, uh… what's going to happen with all the Medals?"

Eiji jolted, looking around at the mess of Cell Medals. "Oh! Right, I'll take care of it, just a minute!" he called as he took off towards his bike.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, I sure am glad Kamen Rider takes place in an alternate universe where there are good cops, or writing all the cop characters in Kamen Rider would be really awkward. :)
> 
> The wait for the next chapter will be shorter, as it’s almost finished! Thank you for your support!


	4. Birds of a Feather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, a bit later than intended but extra-long! Reminder that I'm only using show canon--this is particularly important for some of the Medal lore, which I decided to take liberties with rather than piece together all the novel/movie details that I don't like. 
> 
> Thanks for the feedback so far, and I'd love to keep hearing your thoughts!

Philip was waiting for them when they got back to the agency. "Let me see it!" he demanded immediately, and Shotaro sighed as he handed over the shards of crystalline substance that had been the Memory. Ankh slunk back to perch on the armrest of a cushioned chair, uninterested in getting pulled into Philip's curiosity again.

"So, it really is a Gaia Memory?" Eiji asked, sinking into a chair at the small table in the entry room. "I know Murakami-san said that's what happened, but he didn't exactly seem--reliable, so…"

"Oh, yes," Philip replied. "But it's far less refined than any Museum ever used. I would say it has no way of interfacing with humans at all."

"Are you able to like, look it up by holding it?" Eiji asked.

Philip paused, getting a faraway look that caused Shotaro to wince. "Utilizing physical objects instead of keywords is a fascinating prospect I've never considered," Philip murmured, but then his eyes refocused on the shattered Memory and he joined Eiji at the table. "But no. I just remember the stages of Memory refinement."

"Remember?"

"Yes, I helped Museum develop Gaia Memories before Shotaro rescued me. Did you not know that?"

"Oh, no, I--" Eiji stammered, flustered, but Philip was already lost in thought again, and Shotaro patted Eiji on the shoulder. 

"So how did they get the Memory to work with Cell Medals?" Shotaro asked, pulling a chair around to straddle it and rest his forearms against the back. Both he and Philip looked to Ankh and Eiji questioningly. 

"Ah, well…" Eiji furrowed his brow and met Ankh's eyes. "Cell Medals exist to form Greed and yummies. But Kougami-san developed ways to use them for power, and I--" He broke off, eyes darting down, and Ankh wondered if Philip and Shotaro would even be phased by knowing Eiji had absorbed Medals himself. "Well, people have definitely found other uses for them."

Ankh shrugged. “Gaia Memories, they're just records of things, right?" Philip nodded. "So if that thing had desires, they'd just have to figure out how to make the Cell Medals respond to it like a Greed. Don't know how they would, but it's feasible."

Philip tapped his chin. “So they circumvented the need for biological interface, and made use of Cell Medals for their inherent responsiveness. How clever. Still, Memories may need a far lower level of refinement to interface with Cell Medals, but figuring out how to do so would nevertheless require incredible knowledge of both Memories and Medals."

Eiji nodded. "Enough knowledge to make some sort of dopant-yummy hybrid… like, a...”

Shotaro jumped in at the same time as Eiji's next word. 

“Dummy!”

“Yopant!”

Ankh had never felt as connected to anyone as he did in that moment he and Philip shared looks of disbelieving exasperation. 

“Better go with yopant,” Philip announced, leaning over to tousle Shotaro’s hair and knocking off his hat. “Since the dummy’s right here.”

“Hey!”

"We don't have to call it that," Eiji muttered, having the grace to look embarrassed as Ankh shot him a glare.

"It suffices," Philip replied. "If we'll be facing more of them, we should get a clearer idea of each other's power sets. We may need to play to each of our strengths to deal with these hybrid monsters." 

They each displayed their respective transformation items, offering a brief description of their associated powers. 

"Then there's Fang, of course," Philip added. 

"Fang?" No sooner had Eiji repeated this than a roar emanated behind Ankh.

Ankh swore as he turned and saw a palm-sized mechanical… dinosaur?... leap down from the chair back and over to Philip.

"I think he likes being talked about." Philip smiled as it jumped onto his shoulder.

"Aw! He's so cute!" Eiji squealed. He turned to grin at Ankh, pointing at it excitedly. Ankh just gave him an incredulous look, so he turned back to Philip. "The candroids are pretty cute, but they can only do the tasks they're made for, and only when you activate them yourself." Fang peered at Eiji curiously, then tentatively tapped his outstretched finger with his snout. "Ahh! Ooh, I wish I had something cute like him."

"Well, there's Ankh," Philip replied.

Ankh bristled and snapped, "I'm not cute!"

Eiji had responded at the same time, and Ankh's retort had nearly drowned him out. But as Ankh looked at Eiji's suddenly serious expression, his mind played it back for him: "Ankh isn't a thing."

Shotaro's eyebrows went up as Philip blinked in surprise, looking between Ankh and Eiji. He finally settled on Eiji, pointing at him. "Of course I know that. I didn't realize that was a concern. I was merely referring to Ankh also being composed of the technology you use to transform."

He then turned his gaze and his finger to Ankh. "As for you not being cute, that's a matter of opinion, and therefore you cannot tell me I'm wrong."

Ankh stood with murder in his eyes and Eiji hastily shoved him back into the chair. "S-so," Eiji interrupted quickly, parrying Ankh's hands, "do you two have any idea who could be capable of this stuff?" 

"Museum completely fell apart when we stopped them, and Foundation X hasn't made any moves around Memories for a long time," Shotaro mused. "I don't know of any other organizations who had anything to do with Memories when they were an active issue. What about you?"

"Mm, same," Eiji replied, able to return to the table now that Ankh had crossed his arms and turned to glare at the wall. "But then again, the Kougami Foundation is still active in Medal research, so it might be a little different."

"Kougami is the one who sent you here, right?" Shotaro asked. "What's your take on his involvement?"

"What, like he might be involved and is just making it look like the Foundation was attacked?" Eiji surprised Ankh by not immediately jumping to Kougami's defense. "I'll admit Kougami-san can be… questionable at times. But this doesn't seem like something he'd do. I think the worst possibility would be him choosing to overlook something he shouldn't, not orchestrating it. But Goto-san is looking into the theft on the Foundation end, and I do trust him."

"Alright, so a new entity is most likely from what we know," Shotaro said. "Well, just the fact that they know so much tells us something important about them. Then with what Murakami told us, the question becomes: are they actually a New Age type cult who got too interested in Rider tech, or are they just using the New Age stuff as a cover to draw people in?"

Ankh shrugged. "Does it matter either way?" 

"It might," Shotaro muttered. Ankh couldn't tell if he was actually considering something or just trying to be mysterious, so he ignored it. "At any rate, we'll investigate them tomorrow. Philip, do you think you can search them from what we heard today?"

"I  _ might _ be able to get to something," Philip replied, then interrupted himself with a yawn. "Worth a first look, at least."

"Mm, yeah, just the cult name isn't a whole lot to go on. Maybe we'll get lucky. Either way, I'll plan to check in with my informants about it. Would you care to help me out with that, Hino?"

"Me?" Eiji startled. "Oh, yeah!" 

Ankh rolled his eyes at Eiji's eagerness to play detective and escaped to the hangar while he was distracted.

\---

The next morning, Eiji felt Ankh jolt beside him a moment before he blinked his own eyes open confusedly, the hangar lights having just been flipped on. 

"Philip?" Eiji mumbled as he saw the man stride in, still wearing pajamas, carrying his blank book and a fistful of markers. 

"What the hell are you doing?" Ankh asked, far more cantankerously. 

"Starting the look-up," Philip answered simply. "I'll need the whiteboards in here, I expect it'll take some honing to get to anything useful."

"Oh?" was all Eiji could manage, fumbling for his phone to check the time. Not quite 5:30 AM. "Oh."

Philip held out half the markers. "Can you help me write down keywords, Eiji-kun? Ankh could help too, but I think I know better than to ask that."

"Uh, sure," Eiji obliged, stumbling out of the bed as Ankh snickered.

But Eiji's task had long been abandoned by the time Shotaro walked into the hangar. Eiji and Ankh were listening to Philip with wide eyes and open mouths as Shotaro's gaze darted between the words littering the walls.

"Dionysus is also the only Olympian widely purported to have a mortal parent, which--"

"Wait, Philip, what are you--"

"Ah, Shotaro, you're awake!" Philip beamed at him. "'Bacchanalia' was a Roman cult dedicated to Bacchus, also called Liber, or the Greek Dionysus. He is primarily known as a god of wine and pleasure, but also embodied freedom and subverting oppressive power structures. It was likely this latter purpose that led to the cult's subjugation by Roman--"

Shotaro placed a hand on his head and took a deep breath. "Philip, why is 'dildo' written on the board."

"Ah, yes! That's from the legend that Dionysus created the first dildo to symbolically fulfill his oath to have sex with a mortal who aided him on a quest and died before the oath was fulfilled. This is part of a larger myth that embodies the narrative of retrieving a deceased from the underworld. Dionysus is notable in being the only successful example I've identified thus far, but the legend of Izanami and Izanagi reflects the same archetypal--"

"The thefts," Shotaro interrupted. "Did you find any information about the Bacchanalia that committed the thefts?"

"Oh, no, absolutely nothing. We should consider that if the cult knows enough about Gaia Memories to use them in the way we've seen, they may know enough about my abilities to attempt to subvert my searches." Philip turned back to the writing on the walls. "Of course, archeological evidence shows that dildos long predate Greek society, with the earliest examples dating to about 28,000 years ago, but the myth has fascinating implications in relation to the role of bottoming in Greek and Roman culture, which--"

"Philip, please!" Shotaro all but shouted. "You don't need to look up information on bottoming!"

Philip finally paused and turned to Shotaro, thumb brushing his lip as he gave a wicked grin. "Well, you would be the best judge of that."

Shotaro turned and walked back out of the hangar, covering his face as he screamed.

Eiji had clapped his hands over his mouth in shock, but Ankh was cackling, falling across the bed. Eiji was too flustered to stop him, so he laughed himself out until he had to wipe tears of mirth from his eyes. Philip was apparently entirely unaffected by the uproar he'd caused, merely turning back to the whiteboard, checking off one keyword and adding another.

"Well, this is pointless," Ankh finally said, picking himself up from the bed. "I'm gonna go buy a box of ice for here."

It took Eiji a moment to figure out why Ankh was holding his hand out at him. "I already gave you ice money for this week!"

Ankh gave a scowl that was more of a pout. "It's gone."

"Ankh, I said I was giving it to you in advance so you could manage your money yourself!"

"The ice on the train over was expensive!" Ankh snapped.

Eiji sighed, going to dig through their small pile of belongings. "You know where the convenience store is?"

"Yes!"

"This is coming out of next week's, so pay attention to what you're spending."

"Yeah, whatever," Ankh muttered, snatching the cash from Eiji's hand and disappearing out the door.

A little while later, Philip finished writing something on the whiteboard and snapped the cap back on his marker. "Well, that's all the primary sources on Dionysus. I'll have to follow up on some of the culture and related mythology, but I can stop for now."

Eiji perked up, and Philip strode back over to the section of the board where Eiji had written "Bacchanalia" when they'd started. "Now, how to access information on  _ our _ Bacchanalia?"

"Is there just too much information on the ancient one?" Eiji asked. "Could you search by, I dunno, time or location?"

Philip shook his head. "I tried something similar already. The multiple referents does complicate things, but it's not the sole problem. Given what Murakami said about using false names, I suspect they sought to avoid detection by keeping identifying information unrecorded." Philip gave a hum of frustration. "I haven't really had to deal with people specifically subverting my abilities. This will be tricky. But they have contacted people online, so there must be some records." Philip erased some of the keywords he'd burned through from around the cult name and began replacing them with new ones. "And they must have  _ some _ internal records to be able to organize such large-scale thefts. A code, maybe? For now, we can start by considering what else may be keywords for them."

Shotaro peeked into the hangar, nursing a cup of coffee. He seemed to have recovered somewhat and, apparently after judging the new words Philip was scribbling to be distinctly unsexy, walked back over to the boards. "Whoa, back on track already?"

Philip didn't even acknowledge the comment, and Eiji felt bewildered by his ability to go from bragging about their sex life to completely ignoring his partner. "We know about the thefts, and that they're recruiting people online--well, that they  _ have _ , we don't know if that's a consistent modus operandi. We know that they at least claim to be focused on manifesting desires." Philip finished writing and nodded, capping his marker once more. "I need to access the Medal Memories."

Shotaro groaned. “Philip, stop wasting your time on that!”

“It's not wasting. We know that our target is after both the Medals and the Gaia Memories. From the logic of the cult itself, Medals should have a special interest as objects that literally give form to desire. The Medals may be our best chance of finding records of the cult in the bookshelves.”

“Okay, but you were never able to get anything solid on them before.”

“True, but I have a few new strategies to try. First, I'm going to try starting with Ankh again, as a relatively known object.” Philip lifted his arm and started reciting words that Eiji had once fed to him. “Core Medals. Hawk. Peafowl. Condor. Ankh.”

Eiji didn't even realize Ankh had returned until he lunged forward, slamming Philip to the ground. Eiji stepped forward as he turned to round on Philip, but two others were already there: Fang, crouched before Philip and screeching ferociously, and Shotaro, planting his fist in Ankh’s gut. 

Ankh doubled over and stumbled back a step. When he straightened, eyes burning into Shotaro, Eiji grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him against the wall. Shotaro took a step forward, but Philip reached a hand from the floor and grasped his wrist, admonishing sharply, “Enough, Shotaro.”

Eiji turned back to Ankh, searching his face incredulously, but Ankh stared past him. Pushing him off, he spat at Philip, “I am not an object of investigation!”

Eiji watched Ankh storm out the door, then spun around into a deep bow. “I’m so sorry! I don’t even know what to say, you’ve been so kind, and--we’ll leave right away, I’m so--”

“There’s no need,” Philip interrupted. 

“Philip,” Shotaro murmured urgently, looking over his face where a bruise was forming on his cheek. 

“What? You’ve punched me for saying insensitive things.”

“What--that’s not… That was a long time ago!” Shotaro stammered, turning to Eiji anxiously. “We weren’t together then, that’s--”

“Clearly I crossed a line for him,” Philip overrode him. “It would be nice to have a clearer idea of what that line is, but perhaps you can help with that, Eiji-kun.”

Shotaro sighed when Philip looked over at him. “I mean, I don’t want to make you leave,” he said, looking to Eiji. “So if Philip is fine, then…”

Another furious bow. “Thank you so much! I’ll go talk to him, I’ll--” Eiji was already stumbling back, half out the door. 

Ankh hadn't gone far, he was surprised to find. Only a block down the street, towards a greener section that eventually turned into a proper park, Ankh had situated himself in the first climbable tree, leaning back against the trunk with his arms crossed.

"Ankh!" Eiji called. "Get down here!"

Ankh scowled at him. "What, not even a bribe this time?"

"No, you're not getting rewarded for being an asshole!"

Ankh growled. "Then you're out of luck."

"That's not funny! This is serious, Ankh! Either come back now and apologize, or don't come back!"

Ankh's brows flew up for a moment before he regained control of his face. "Oh?" he scoffed. "Going to pack me back to the restaurant while you have your little Rider adventure?"

Eiji set his mouth in a line. "If you're going to stay here, you have to apologize."

Ankh's glare returned, full of fire as he leapt down from the tree and stormed past Eiji. Eiji took a deep breath before turning to follow him.

Ankh made it to the agency a few steps ahead of him, and quickly turned into the hangar and slammed the door behind him. Eiji paused, looking to where Philip and Shotaro were leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Sorry, I haven't really been able to talk to him yet. All I can say is--he doesn't really like people to know much about him. He doesn't talk about himself or his past. I mean, I don't even know how long he was alive before… Well, the point is I know a tiny bit, but even that was hard to get out of him. ”

“I see,” Philip mused. “And you must know him better than anyone. I suppose a look-up would seem invasive in those circumstances.”

Eiji thought that a look-up was pretty invasive in any circumstance, and then was struck with the thought that if Philip didn't see it like that, he might have already done a look-up on  _ him _ . That gave Eiji a squirming feeling in his gut and he decided not to ask about it. 

"Right, well, I'll try to talk to him again," Eiji said, giving another apologetic half-bow and turning to the hangar. 

As he closed the door behind him, he barely heard Philip ask Shotaro, "Would it do any good to tell him to apologize less?" The door shut off Shotaro's reply. 

Shaking his head, Eiji strode over to where Ankh was hunched on the futon.

"Ankh, look at me!" Ankh bared his teeth as he turned to Eiji, but Eiji didn't back down. "We can't just stay in someone's house while being a threat to them! You need to apologize to Philip! And promise you won't attack him again!"

Ankh's hands had clenched at his sides, one switched into Greed form. Eiji was already preparing a retort to what he imagined Ankh would say, but it died on his lips when Ankh growled, "I thought you wanted me here!"

"What?"

“If you want me here, then why do you never take my side?”

“I’m not taking anyone’s side! You attacked Philip for no reason--you needing to apologize for that is not a side!”

“It wasn’t no reason! He didn’t need to be poking his fingers into things that are none of his concern!”

“Then tell him that! This isn't a battle, Ankh! You can use your words!” Eiji heaved a deep sigh and lowered his voice. "Look, I understand not wanting Philip to research you, and it's fine to be angry about that. What's  _ not _ fine is just attacking people whenever they do things you don't like. You know that. You're better than that now."

The anger was startled off Ankh's face as he cocked his head at Eiji, but it was quickly replaced by a smirk and a snigger. "Oh, I'm better now?"

Eiji shrugged. "You're here, aren't you? You came back."

Ankh scoffed. "I always come back."

"Sure, but before you didn't really have a choice. Now you don't have a reason to."

Ankh cast a furtive glance at Eiji. "I always have a reason." Eiji blinked, but before he could open his mouth, Ankh swung up from the bed. "Let's get this over with." He strode past Eiji to the door, and Eiji turned in numb surprise to follow him.

In the kitchen, Ankh stopped a few feet away from where Philip and Shotaro stood at the counter, arms crossed as he stared Philip down. 

"I don't want you looking me up," Ankh finally stated.

"I gathered that, yes," Philip replied. 

"So don't, and I won't attack you again," Ankh concluded. 

"Ankh!" Eiji groaned. "That is  _ not _ an apology!"

Philip didn't seem overly concerned by this fact. "Why did you attack me instead of starting out with that?"

"Because I didn't want you looking me up!"

“Do you believe that people won't listen to you unless you use violence?” Ankh stiffened, but Philip continued. “I admit I am often stubborn, particularly when something interests me, but I will listen if you tell me something is important to you. You don't need to force me.”

“Really?” Shotaro asked. “You never listen to me.”

“You're an exception,” Philip replied with a grin dripping mischief and affection, before turning back to Ankh. "It may help you to know that when I began to search you, the bookshelves still weren't giving me anything. I may not be able to access anything about you anyway. But I can agree not to try. I'll just ask you directly instead."

Ankh, who had begun to relax his arms, clenched his fists by his sides. "Why the hell do you want to ask about me?"

"I think you're interesting," Philip replied simply. "I like knowing about interesting things."

Ankh scowled at Philip as if he was a particularly illegible word. "You… you don't want to  _ use _ information for anything."

Philip shrugged. "Well, I'm a detective, so it's not accurate to say I don't use my knowledge resources for a purpose."

"But that's not why you  _ want _ it. You just want the  _ knowing _ ." Philip nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. Ankh gave him a hard stare for another moment, before his face transformed into a malicious grin. "Alright. I can give you what you want. But you'll owe me."

Eiji began stammering a protest as Philip brightened. "How intriguing! What do you want in exchange?"

Ankh shrugged. "You don't have anything I want right now, but I'm sure I'll think of something."

"I--I don't think that's a good--"

"It's a deal!" Philip exclaimed, holding out his hand. 

"Wait--"

Shotaro patted Eiji's shoulder. "Leave it," he sighed in a tone of long-suffering. "Best not interrupt a deal between devils." 

Ankh looked at Philip's hand in surprise for a moment, then his grin returned and he shook it, Greed arm on full display. 

\---

With the morning's drama resolved, they had a late breakfast, and then Shotaro turned to business. 

"Since Philip is stalled on the look-up, we'll have to work on getting info the old-fashioned way."

"Oh yeah!" Eiji exclaimed. "We're going to talk to your informants, right?"

"Yeah, about that--would you be up for handling that on your own? I'll let them know, of course."

"Just me? Why?"

Shotaro sighed. "I was cleaning up my desk this morning while Philip was--distracted." Philip grinned at Shotaro over his remaining breakfast. "And I remembered that there were a few cases I was finishing up before this all got started. Obviously this cult stuff is most important, but I can't exactly ignore our clients. If you think you can talk to my informants about what they might know and what to look out for, then I can wrap up those cases today."

"Okay, yeah, I can do that!"

Philip took his dishes to the sink to wash them as Shotaro gave Eiji instructions, because at three to five years into their partnership (depending on how one counted), they'd had enough arguments about dishes that Philip usually remembered to do them if he wasn't otherwise distracted. (This was, admittedly, still not that often.)

He was just finishing the drying when Ankh and Eiji's voices rose in an argument. 

"I need the phone to contact everyone, Ankh!"

"Why don't you have your own?"

"It's not like the phone is  _ yours _ !"

"Ugh! Then tell Kougami we need one for this job!"

"Fine.  _ You _ can ask for one. When I get back, because right now I'm taking the phone and going."

"Augh!" Ankh huffed, shoved the phone at him, and stomped off into the hangar. Eiji simply rolled his eyes and headed out.

"I do  _ not _ get what is going on there," Shotaro muttered, before settling down at his desk. 

Philip couldn't say he did either, but he also wasn't concerned with it--there was a great deal more interesting about Ankh and Eiji than whatever relationship they shared. So as Shotaro paused his typing to make a phone call, Philip slipped into the hangar to find Ankh lounging on the futon.

"What do you want?" he asked brusquely.

"I thought this would be a good time to begin our arrangement."

"Can you not tell I'm in a bad mood?" Ankh snapped. 

"I can. But I've also noticed that you have nothing better to do."

Ankh grimaced and sighed. “What do you even want to know?”

Philip smiled and joined him on the futon. Ankh startled and scooted away from him.

“Let's start with how you were created. I know the Greed resulted from alchemy, but I don't know much else.”

“Fine." Ankh shuffled back further to lean against the wall and cross his arms. "It was around what's Germany now--they had different names back then--13th century or something, they weren't great at tracking years then and I certainly wasn't checking any calendars. This king wanted so much power that normal human means weren't enough for him, so he found a bunch of alchemists and had them create a new power source for him. They made Medals infused with the power of different animals--I think that was their idea, he didn't care how he got power. Sets of ten--three, three, and four. Some mystic meaning to the numbers, probably. They also made a tool for the king to harness the power of the Medals.”

“The OOO belt,” Philip supplied. 

“Yeah. So the king takes a medal from each to test this new power, but something else happens. The Medal sets respond to the loss and start to incarnate.”

“Wait, were your bodies Cell Medals then?”

“Yeah, once we formed.”

“But if you're the ones who create Cell Medals, how did you have any to make your bodies in the first place?”

Ankh paused. “I don't know. We just had them when we formed. Not a lot, we were pretty weak at first.”

“Hm. Then perhaps the force of the initial desire for the tenth Core was able to manifest Cell Medals for the first time.”

Ankh shrugged. “Could be. Or maybe the alchemists made some. Dunno.”

“Do you remember forming?”

Ankh hesitated. “Some. We always had sentience, but we were a lot more instinctual at first. Most of it I pieced together afterward.”

“What do you remember?”

Ankh breathed. “Being torn apart. It doesn't really make sense since I never had any sense of being whole, but that was my first sensation. All I remember is that, and the instinct to fly.

“So I flew. I fled. Uva, the bug Greed,” Ankh supplied when Philip looked confused, “ran off too. Kazari, the cat Greed, I think he attacked everyone there, and that's when the king first used the belt. Gamel, large animals, was basically just stampeding around, destroying stuff, until Mezool, sea creatures, found him, and they escaped together while the king was busy beating Kazari back.”

“These groupings of animals don't seem to have any real scientific basis,” Philip commented. 

“Don't complain to me,” Ankh snapped. 

“So, you five wound up scattered around, and the king had the belt and one each of your Cores.”

“More than that. They'd tried to split up the Medals when we started forming, so none of us had a complete set of nine. I had eight, some had seven. We had just enough Cell Medals to form our bodies, so like I said, we were weak. We all went out to get more Cell Medals.”

“By making yummies.”

“Yeah. I flew and flew until I reached this huge forest.” Ankh paused, his eyes softening. “It was beautiful there, at least as far as I could tell. Snowy, but lots of birds. A few villages along the outskirts. I stayed there, making yummies and gaining strength. I became a forest monster that the villagers told stories about.”

“How long were you there?”

“Not sure, I didn't have a reference for time. Less than a year, I think, if I remember the seasons right. I assume the others were doing the same elsewhere. Sometimes I'd sense another's yummies, but not close enough to bother with. 

“Kazari came to see me once. Said a lot about how we needed to band together to get our Cores, but I wasn't ready to settle into any alliances yet. Besides, I always knew I couldn't trust him, even if that was just the animal instincts talking.”

Ankh was silent for a while, until finally Philip prodded, “So why did you leave the forest?”

“The king found me. Like I said, the villagers told stories. I'd told Kazari that I wanted to scope out the enemy before taking action, but--I felt him coming. I felt him carrying my Cores. I attacked him purely on instinct and rage.”

“And?”

“He kicked my ass. I assumed he was going to kill me, but he just left me there, wallowing in my own Medals. Then he came back the next day, and I was even more desperate, but I was defeated just as soundly. Then he gave me a choice: obviously I could never defeat him. So either I could go work with him, or he'd destroy me there. He had me pretty convinced, so I went with him.”

“Huh,” Philip murmured. “What did you do, working with him?”

“Whatever he wanted.” Ankh gave a restless shrug. “Conquering things. You could find a million examples of what he was doing throughout medieval Europe--hell, throughout human history--just without the Rider gear.”

“Did any of the other Greed work with him?”

“No. I don't know if he approached them or not, but he probably thought he only needed one to defeat the rest. Well, he was right, anyway.”

“So you two defeated the other Greed. How did you come to be sealed with them then?”

“He needed a Greed working with him to defeat the others, but he needed all of our Cores. He took mine, too, in the end, then got petrified like a fool for trying to become a god.”

"Trying to become a god?"

"Yeah. That's what it was really all about, I guess. He tried to absorb the power from all the Cores, and," Ankh made a poofing motion with his hand, "he was dead and we were all sealed for 800 years." 

Philip nodded, tapping a finger to his lip. "I assume you don't know the specifics of how the alchemists made your Core Medals?"

"No."

"Do you remember any of their names?"

"Huh?"

Philip stood and grabbed a marker, looking at Ankh expectantly. "I can search for them to see if any information about their alchemic practice has survived."

Ankh scowled at him. "I don't want you reading anything about me."

"If anything about you comes up, I'll let you know and stop reading."

"Ugh. Fine."

He gave Philip what names he could remember, and then some places, and approximate dates. Soon enough, Philip was engrossed in reading up on alchemic traditions of the European Middle Ages, and Ankh was free to go back to pouting or whatever he had intended to do before Philip interrupted. 

By the time Eiji returned, Shotaro had already finished his paperwork and called Philip and Ankh out from the hangar for a delivery dinner. 

"How'd it go?" Shotaro asked, handing Eiji a takeout box as he settled into the sitting area.

“Ah, thank you. It went pretty well, I think. Your informants are… interesting.” 

Shotaro snorted. “You know what they say about people who live in glass houses, rights?” 

Eiji smiled sheepishly. “Fair.”

He'd heard two things that might help them, he reported. First, Queen and Elizabeth had heard about a college classmate telling people about the time they almost got roped into a cult. They weren't sure of the classmate's name or when exactly it happened, but had agreed to ask around to get the details. Second, Santa-chan had an acquaintance who'd started acting strangely after getting involved in some group. Santa-chan didn't know much himself, but he remembered them talking about needing to go to some group meetings; and then a few weeks ago, they'd quit their job suddenly and disappeared. Eiji passed the acquaintance's name along.

"I'll add them to my search list. Someone's got to show up eventually," Philip muttered. 

Beyond that, Eiji had asked them all to keep an eye out for any information on Medals, Memories, or a cult that might be operating around the city. 

"Alright, good work today!" Shotaro told him, clapping a hand on his shoulder. Eiji brightened into a grin. 

Later, after Ankh and Eiji had retired back into the hangar, Philip said to Shotaro, "Eiji-kun isn't used to being praised, is he?"

"You noticed too, huh?" Shotaro sighed. "I can't help but worry about him."

"You wouldn't be my half-boiled partner if you could," Philip replied with a grin. 

Shotaro made a half-hearted protest as they got into bed, then continued, "Say, Philip. You've researched Hino, haven't you?"

"Yes. A few years ago. After he asked me to look up Medals."

"And did you, uh, find anything? Anything that, I don't know, we should talk about?"

Philip hesitated. It wasn't like Shotaro to ask. He had, in Philip's opinion, rather old-fashioned ideas about how one was supposed to learn about one's acquaintances, ideas that specifically did not involve accessing superhuman data streams. Normally Philip would be perfectly willing to share whatever he'd found, but… 

"There were things I probably shouldn't have seen. News reports with a different surname. Medical records."

"Philip!"

"Yes, I know, but it's a little late to scold me for it, isn't it?" He felt Shotaro huff into the back of his neck. "I would say that… Eiji-kun is a complex person. Even if I told you what I know, it wouldn't tell you how to approach him. If you're concerned about him, you should trust your instincts about what to do. They're your best quality, after all."

"Hmph. Not my winning good looks?"

"Those too," Philip replied, reaching back to ruffle Shotaro's hair. Shotaro chuckled and kissed his temple.

"And how'd your interview with Ankh go today?"

"Oh, it was fine. I started looking into the branches of alchemy that would have created the Medals." Philip glanced over his shoulder at Shotaro. "Don't worry. He's harmless."

"He punched you this morning!"

"He's angry," Philip conceded. "I think I'm beginning to understand what about."

"I thought you were just interested in learning about the Medals."

"I can be interested in multiple things."

"Whoa, you weren't kidding. You really have matured."

Philip reached back and tickled Shotaro's side until he nearly kicked Philip out of the bed.


	5. Love Birds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW in end note

Ankh had apparently decided that he did like coffee, provided it was mostly actually cream and sugar. After watching Ankh survive almost exclusively on popsicles and Cell Medals for a year, this particular culinary sin didn't phase Eiji much, but Philip and Shotaro still watched with barely veiled disgust. When Shotaro's phone rang, he seemed relieved to have an excuse to step away from the table. 

"Maybe if I think of it like alchemy, it won't seem so bad," Philip muttered to himself. 

Shotaro turned back around suddenly. "Hang on, I'll just put you on speaker and you can tell us all." He placed his phone in the middle of the table. "Okay, go ahead Terui."

"A body turned up that I think you should look into," Ryu's voice announced over the phone. Eiji's heart sank. 

He wasn't sure if it was related, Ryu clarified, but the timing was right. The body was found the morning before last--so the morning after Ankh and Eiji arrived in Fuuto. And it had left the police scratching their heads, so it made sense to at least rule out any Rider-relevant activity. 

They divided the tasks between them: Eiji and Ankh would go check out things with the medical examiner and at the scene where the body was found, and Shotaro would interview the deceased's family. Ryu was busy at his actual paying job, and he wasn't on this case, but he would make sure those in charge knew Eiji was coming and to cooperate with him. 

A young woman was outside the morgue smoking a cigarette when Eiji and Ankh arrived. "Hello! I'm Hino Eiji, Terui-san said you'd be expecting me?"

"Oh, yes!" she responded, coming out of a reverie and rubbing out her cigarette. "I'm Dr. Shibata, the examiner on the case he reached out about. Terui-san told us you're an expert in mysterious phenomena, like the dopant problem we used to have."

"A-ah, yeah, something like that."

"Do you think a dopant did this? I didn't get the details, but I heard there was a break-in related to that stuff. If those monsters started showing up again…" She trailed off, chewing her lip nervously. 

"Well, whatever's going on, it doesn't seem to be the same thing as the dopant events. I don't know if this has anything to do with that break-in, but we'll do everything we can to figure that out and keep anyone else from getting hurt."

This seemed to comfort her, and she nodded. "Right. Would you like to see the body?"

As they walked into the building, she gave them the details of the case. "The deceased was a local office worker. His body was found laying on some nearby subway tracks by a station worker just after 5am Saturday, and he died several hours earlier, around 2am. His family couldn't give us any explanation for why he would be there."

"Was he struck by a train?"

"You would think that, but no. The trains don't even run overnight on that track." She paused to unlock a door and led them into the chilled morgue. "He didn't show any signs of external trauma, not even the suggestion of falling onto the tracks."

She pulled out one of the drawers, revealing the body of a middle-aged man. "My exam showed the cause of death as anaphylactic shock. His medical records show a severe wasp allergy, and I identified one wasp sting, on the left hand. The cause itself seems pretty straightforward, so I wasn't planning on conducting a full autopsy, but if you think it's necessary we might be able to manage it."

"No, if you're confident in the cause, I don't think an autopsy will help anything." Eiji noted the swollen puncture mark on the hand where she had described. "Only one wasp sting? I don't have any allergies, so maybe I'm way off, but it seems extreme for that to be lethal."

"No, you're right, that's definitely part of what's unusual here. It seems his allergy was quite severe, but he should have had time to get medical attention before it killed him."

"Hm. There weren't any security cameras near where he was found, were there?"

She grabbed some notes from a nearby table and scanned them. "No. It's a pretty small line, so there's only one camera at the entrances to the station. The detectives did look at the footage from both stations nearest to where he was found on the tracks. They didn't find anything, but it wouldn't exactly be hard to get in without being seen."

"Huh. And if he didn't fall or get hit, then… what? He snuck in, climbed onto the tracks, then got stung and died there? Or someone put him there after he died?"

She shrugged. "You see where we're stuck. Can you think of anything we should look for to figure out if this is… y'know, supernatural or whatever?"

Eiji thought for a moment. He'd agreed to investigate, but short of getting turned into a pile of Cell Medals by a completed Greed, it wasn't like Medal-related deaths looked distinct. He thought back to what he'd learned about Double's monsters. "There wasn't a strange marking anywhere on him, was there?"

"No--oh, there was one thing. Not a marking, but something strange on the body. Some kind of weird filmy bits on the face? I'd just assumed it was trash from the rails. Is that what you meant?"

"Huh." Eiji looked at Ankh, who just shrugged. "No, I'm not sure what that could be."

"Oh. Right. Maybe just what I thought then." She glanced between them in the silence that followed. "Would you like to see the personal effects we found with him?"

"That would be great."

She pulled a sealed evidence bag out of storage and opened it on a nearby table. "There wasn't much," she warned, laying the contents out. "He was wearing a business suit, had a few things in his pockets--some change, a receipt from the morning prior, a couple trinkets…"

Eiji and Ankh both jolted as she laid out the last items. Eiji slapped his hand down over the two Cell Medals. "This was found with the body?"

She startled and glanced at the evidence log. "Uh, yes. They were under the body, we assumed he'd dropped them. Do these mean something to you?"

"They mean this is definitely related to the monster break-in stuff."

She looked at the Medals in shock. "I thought it was some gashapon collectible or something. Is this some weird monster thing?"

"Um--basically, yeah."

"Oh my god! Are they--me and the detectives touched these, are we--"

"No, don't worry, they're harmless like this, on their own." 

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Then, is it safe for us to keep them in evidence like this?"

"Uh… do you think you could give them to us? I mean, they won't hurt you, but it might be better not to have this stuff scattered around."

She tapped a Medal thoughtfully before picking them both up. "Hang on, let me check." She stepped out of the room, leaving them alone with the corpse. 

“Wow,” Eiji murmured, “I guess Terui-san has good instincts about this stuff, huh?”

Ankh gave a vague grunt in return. He was positioned in the far corner of the room, looking very intentionally nonchalant. Something suddenly clicked in Eiji's head.

"You've never seen a body."

"I've been around countless corpses," Ankh replied briskly. 

Eiji hadn't known that, not really, but he'd assumed it on some level. The death toll after the Greed were unsealed had been--well, too high, of course, but they had kept it to a minimum as best they could, and there had been nothing up close and personal and gory. Eiji had always assumed this hadn't been the case in their original incarnation, with an OOO focused only on using the Greed for his ascent into godhood.

"No, I meant, with human senses. You've never  _ really _ seen one." Ankh glanced at him and away, and shrugged. "Sorry I didn't think of that before. Is it upsetting you?"

"No," Ankh snapped, but then added, "It's weird."

"Yeah," Eiji agreed quietly. 

Dr. Shibata slipped back into the room. "Alright, we've documented everything and you're cleared to take them," she announced, handing the Medals over.

"Thanks so much! If you see anything like these again, please let us know right away."

"Of course! I'll let everyone know to look out for them, we don't want to be dealing with weird monster shit and not know it."

They swung by the station nearest to where the body was found and sent some candroids to check for any Cell Medals or other signs. When they returned with nothing, Ankh and Eiji agreed to head back to the agency.

Eiji noticed Ankh looking at him strangely as he readied the RideVendor. "What is it?"

Ankh shook his head. "People's reactions to monsters are just reminding me how absolutely out of your mind you were when we met."

"Hey, I was freaked out too! I remember screaming when I first saw you, this creepy hand talking to me." Eiji mimed Ankh floating around until Ankh swatted his hand down. "But I don't know," Eiji smirked, "I think my weird monster shit turned out okay."

Ankh scoffed past a grin. 

\---

Philip popped out of the hangar when he heard the agency door open. Shotaro had just come in, and leaned past Philip to hang up his hat. 

"Any luck talking to the family?" Philip asked.

"Yeah. They think something unnatural happened, so when I said I was investigating whether it was related to stuff like the dopant incidents, they told me everything they could."

"Does it seem like he was another cult member?"

"No, didn't get any hints of that. It's definitely weird, but I don't see a connection to our case yet." 

"Hm. I looked up Santa-chan's acquaintance that Eiji-kun told us about, and there might be something there."

"Good. Elizabeth messaged me the info of the student who had a run-in with a cult, so I'll be asking her some questions soon too." Shotaro scrubbed a hand across his face. "Hino and Ankh aren't back yet? Let's go over it when they get here. I could use a breather."

Philip hummed in agreement. There had probably been crying--Shotaro hated crying, and Philip had been surprised at first when he volunteered for the task (corpses didn't cry, after all). "Were you worried about sending Eiji-kun to talk to the family?"

"Hm? No. I mean, I don't think he's ever had to question people in a situation like this, but he seems good at considering people's emotions. At least he was way more concerned about Murakami than I was."

"No, I meant worried about  _ him _ ."

"Ah. Well." Shotaro shrugged, turning to prepare a cup of coffee. "He did seem pretty upset when Terui said there was a body, and with everything else--figured it might be easier for him." 

Philip gave a small smile--as if Shotaro wasn't always upset at word of any injustice in Fuuto. Shotaro seemed to sense the drift of his thoughts, and added gruffly, "Besides, we should keep Ankh away from as many people as possible."

Philip laughed. "Oh, just admit you're looking out for our cute houseguests."

"Philip! Don't say it like that!"

"What? It's a very  _ you _ thing to do."

"No, I mean, don't call them cute!"

"Why? They  _ are _ cute. What's wrong with me stating basic facts?"

Shotaro shook his head and rolled his eyes, but Philip could tell it was a dramatization of disappointment. "I suppose I'll give it to you for Hino. Ankh, I can't see it past his personality."

Philip smiled indulgently. “I like having Ankh around.”

“You have terrible taste in people.”

Philip leaned into his back, arms wrapping around his waist. “I picked you, didn't I?”

“Well, that's different.”

“How so?”

“You haven't slept with Ankh.”

Philip giggled, settling his chin on Shotaro’s shoulder. “Are you implying that I'm only with you for the sex?”

“I assume it helps.”

“Hmmm," Philip pondered, "I'm not sure.” He pulled away and let Shotaro turn around, bringing his fingers to Shotaro's lips thoughtfully. “I may need a datapoint to examine.”

“Can't you ever say anything normal?” Shotaro murmured, sliding his hand to the small of Philip’s back and jerking their hips together. 

“Would you really want me to?” 

Shotaro responded with a kiss, and they were thus intertwined when they heard the front door open.

“Hey, we found--” Eiji stopped mid-sentence and halfway into the entry room.

Shotaro gasped, starting to pull away; but Philip didn't loosen his grip, instead casting a fearsome look at the interlopers.

“A-ah, we'll go back out and check--don't worry about us, I'm sure there's--anyway, uh, have fun--no, I didn't mean that! I mean you should but uh--bye!” He sprinted back out the door, dragging Ankh with him. 

As the door slammed behind them, Philip turned back to Shotaro and smiled, stating matter-of-factly, "Well, they're gone." 

Shotaro groaned. "I hate you."

Philip giggled, pulling them together again. "You love me."

"I love you," Shotaro whispered against Philip's lips.

\---

Eiji sighed once they were safely outside the agency. “Well, I guess that was bound to happen eventually, staying with a couple like this. I hope Philip doesn't stay mad at us, I've never seen him look so scary.” Eiji laughed. “You were surprisingly willing to get out of there.”

“I am a Greed, after all,” Ankh replied, starting down the street. “I wouldn't dare interfere in such a strong desire.”

Eiji stood for a moment, processing. “Was…” He ran after Ankh. “Was that a joke?” Ankh smirked at him, and he laughed again. “Wow. You really have changed.”

Ankh’s expression soured. “Tch.”

Eiji rolled his eyes. “Okay, I won't question your surly persona again. Anyway, how about I buy us some ice cream? I saw a stand near here, you can switch things up a bit from your usual ice.”

Ankh glanced at him from the corner of his eye. “Is this a reward for being polite in there?”

“Huh?”

“Philip says you use something called operant conditioning on me. That you reward me when I do something you like so I'll do it again.”

“Oh, is that what it's called?” Ankh scowled at him, but Eiji only chuckled. “Do you want it or not?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ankh grumbled. 

They found the ice cream vendor in a nearby park and each got two scoops. Ankh gave a murmur of surprised pleasure as he crunched into the waffle cone. 

“Oi, Eiji,” he said around fervent licks. “What's next for us?”

“I figure we'll just kill some time until we go back to the agency and update them, unless you've thought of something else to look into--”

“No, I mean long-term.”

Eiji’s brain short-circuited for a moment. “Eh?” 

Ankh gave a huff of frustration. “After we're done in Fuuto, what are we doing? Do you really want to just keep working at that restaurant?”

“Oh that.” Eiji deflated in relief. “I mean, what you do is up to you, Ankh, I don't really have a say in that.”

“I asked what you want to do. I know I can stay or go, but you're an idiot, so you probably think that you should stay if I do. But we're not fighting Greed now. For the most part, you live a fairly normal life. What are you going to do with it?”

Eiji thought for a moment. “I was able to help some people as OOO while I traveled. I guess I want to do that again, to reach as many people as I can.”

Ankh sighed. “You never change.”

“I guess not. What about you?”

Ankh lapped at his ice cream and stared into space so long Eiji thought he was going to ignore the question. “I've never gotten to travel before. I think I'd like to.”

“You--you'd want to go with me?” He'd meant it just to be a clarifying question, but it came out a little incredulous. 

“You want me to.”

Eiji felt an absurd blush creeping onto his face. “W-well, just because I want you to doesn't mean you have--” He felt his ice cream melt into his fingers, then watched in horrified fascination as Ankh licked a trail from his fingers, up the cone, and off the top of his ice cream. 

“Shut up,” was Ankh’s conclusion after finishing the gesture, hopping up and popping the last bite of his cone into his mouth. “Can we head back yet?”

“How long has it been?”

“Half an hour.”

“Hm, better leave them a bit longer to be safe.”

“Jesus, how long does it take?”

“Depends on how well you do it.” Ankh gave him a sharply inquisitive look and he chuckled nervously. “That was a joke.”

“Hm.”

“Uh-oh, be careful.”

“What?”

“You looked like you were about to say ‘fascinating.’ I think Philip's rubbing off on you.”

Ankh’s face was a unique mixture of pissed and horrified. “Spare me.”

After walking a little longer, Eiji spoke again. “Hey, Ankh.”

“Huh?”

“I want you alive. Anything else is secondary.”

Ankh stared at him for a while, Eiji making himself stare right back, until Ankh leaned over and bit into the remainder of Eiji’s waffle cone. 

\---

Eiji knocked when they returned to the agency, even though Philip had texted them that they should come back and talk about the case. Ankh opened it a second later, despite Eiji's noise of protest. Ankh didn't even understand why humans were embarrassed about  _ themselves _ having sex; he certainly wasn't going to be embarrassed on behalf of other people. Philip apparently had a similar outlook--he'd hopped up from the table to get the door, and sat back down nonchalantly when he saw them walk in. Shotaro, meanwhile, was conspicuously over-engrossed in organizing papers on his desk, hat low over his face. 

Ankh and Eiji joined Philip at the table, Eiji moving in the overly careful way he had when he didn't know how to act around someone. Ankh scoffed and slapped the Cell Medals they'd found onto the table. "Your cop was right about it being related."

This finally cut through the stupidity in the room, and Shotaro hurried over while Philip leaned in. "These were on the body?" Shotaro demanded. 

"They were under him when they found him, yeah," Eiji replied. He filled the detectives in on everything they'd found, then asked, "What about you? Did you hear anything from the family?"

Shotaro swung himself back into his chair and crossed his legs atop his desk. 

"Beyond what you got from the examiner? Mostly just information to rule out possibilities. They said everything had been completely normal the day before. He went to work and came home like always, they had a family dinner and watched TV, and he went to bed with his wife around 11pm. When the wife woke up the next morning he was gone, but all of his things had been left at home, even the apartment keys. They looked around the neighborhood for a bit on their own, then called the police and were brought in to identify the body."

"And they couldn't think of any reason he would be where he was found?" Eiji asked.

"He took that line to work apparently, but there was no reason for him to go in the middle of the night when the trains weren't even running. Speaking of, did you notice what he was wearing when they found him?"

"Uh, just a business suit, typical office worker deal."

"Yeah, the family mentioned that. They said he never wore a suit when he didn't have to, and obviously he was in pajamas when he went to bed. So why was he wearing a suit at 2am on a Saturday, when he wouldn't even be working that day?"

"Oh." Eiji dropped his chin into his hand. "I didn't even think of that."

"Well, leaving that aside for now--if we assume those Medals have to be there from Bacchanalia, we're left with two basic possibilities. First--he was a member. They called him out for a meeting that night and… something happened. Maybe a freak accident and they just left the body. Maybe they meant to kill him and make it look like an accident."

"But surely they'd leave the body in a more logical place if they wanted it to look like an accident," Philip interjected. 

"There's that, yeah," Shotaro agreed. "And I couldn't find any hint that he'd been involved with the cult. His family said he was a homebody, barely went anywhere alone besides work. Unless it turns out that he was missing work to be involved with the cult, it just doesn't add up. So, second possibility--he was killed by the cult even though he wasn't involved. Maybe it was even just random--another yopant monster running amok."

"What, a wasp monster that also convinces its victims to get dressed in the middle of the night and take a ten minute walk before it kills them?" Ankh asked blankly. 

"That--yeah, that part doesn't make sense either," Shotaro finished weakly. 

"And even if the Medals are from Bacchanalia being involved, that doesn't tell us why they were under the body."

"The snake shed a lot of Medals," Philip offered. "That would suggest it was a yopant killing, then."

"It shed them when you were attacking it," Ankh shot back. "Unless you're going to suggest this dead guy was a Rider, I don't see how that's relevant."

"Well, you--" Eiji began, then swallowed his words. 

Ankh looked at him sharply, taking a guess at who the 'you' referred to. "I what?"

"I mean, not you in particular, but…" Eiji fiddled with his shirt for a moment. "The, uh, the Greed. Sometimes they would shed Cell Medals after losing Cores."

"Ah." Ankh hadn't thought of that--he'd been thinking of these monsters as following yummy rules. But in the sense that they were animated by a core within them, they might follow the logic of Greed bodies more. "You're right. If one of these things had an unstable core, it could be unable to hold all the Cell Medals together and lose some."

"Unstable?" Shotaro asked. "Like some sort of manufacturing error when they refined the Memory?"

"Maybe. This is all assuming those Medals are even from one of those monsters."

"You know, it would be faster to say yopant," Philip interjected, grinning at Ankh.

"It would also be stupid," Ankh snapped. "And anyway, wouldn't it  _ be faster _ if you just looked up what happened to this guy?"

Philip gave a dramatic sigh. "It doesn't work like that, I don't just look up answers. What would you even want me to search? All we know are the victim and the Medals."

Ankh scowled. Philip's power didn't make any sense to him--what the hell did 'recorded information' even mean? He was beginning to wonder if Philip was nothing more than a glorified search bar and if he'd be better off just googling things himself and not putting up with Philip's chatter.

"There were cameras," Eiji suddenly voiced. "At the station entrances. The examiner said they checked them, but… I don't know, maybe it would be a place to start?"

Philip looked at him skeptically. "That's practically nothing. I don't typically just fish around in the bookshelves like that."

"I--I know, I'm sorry," Eiji muttered. "It's just, it's already been two days since this victim died, and who knows when the next will show up, or if there's already been another. I wish we had something more useful for you. But if there's any way we can stop this from happening again…"

Philip gave a sigh even longer and more dramatic than the first. "Aki-chan could learn a thing or two from you."

"W-what?"

" _ Her _ puppy dog face  _ never _ works this well on me."

"Huh?!"

Philip swung himself up and strode towards the hangar. "I'll need some time. And I'll have to piece the searches together as I go, so no one interrupt me. If I don't find anything in an hour, I'm calling it a lost cause. Shotaro, I expect dinner to be ready when I'm done."

"So demanding," Shotaro called as Philip disappeared into the hangar. Then he turned to Eiji. "Damn, I'm gonna have to call you up when he doesn't want to do a search for a case."

"O-oh, um…"

Shotaro stood and stretched. "Well, I better fulfill my apparent end of the bargain. I need to grab a few ingredients from the store, can you get it started?"

He directed Eiji to some vegetables to chop and the location of the pots and pans, then stepped out of the agency. Eiji did as he was told without complaint, pulling out a cutting board and washing up the vegetables. "Do you want to help?" he called to Ankh, patting the produce dry.

"Why would I want to do that?" 

Eiji shrugged. "Chiyoko-san was teaching you to cook, right? Just thought you might want to be involved." Eiji paused for a beat, but when Ankh didn't reply, continued, "But I guess I can handle it."

Ankh tried to turn back to his phone, but the relative silence, punctuated only by the slight clanking of Eiji placing a pot on the stove and digging through a drawer until he found a suitable knife, ate at him. Finally, he stood and grabbed the knife from Eiji. "Move, I'll do it."

Eiji smiled, that stupid tender smile that had always made Ankh bristle because he couldn't trust something like that directed at him, because only an idiot or a liar would smile like that at a Greed and Eiji had proven time and again that he was no idiot. Then Eiji stepped away to start rinsing the rice, and Ankh shoved it out of his mind and began chopping vegetables with intensity. 

"Whoa! You're really good at that!" Eiji exclaimed.

"What's there to be good at?" Ankh snapped. Chiyoko had said the same thing, after she demonstrated and then had him try. He'd never had any reason to use a knife before, but he had a keen eye and was good with his hands, so it was simple enough. He didn't see why they should be so surprised that he was capable of basic tasks, and suspected it was a sloppy attempt at using praise to get him to continue the behavior. Not that such inane tactics would work on him. He'd help or not as he saw fit--he was getting used to the idea that reciprocity was occasionally a better option than force to get what he wanted, but he had no use for praise. Or too-tender smiles, for that matter. 

Eiji softly hummed as he worked, and Ankh was annoyed to find himself reflexively chopping in time to his tune. To break the rhythm, Ankh demanded, "What were you being weird about?" 

"Huh?"

"When you brought up how Greed bodies work."

"O-oh, was I?" Eiji's defensive grin faltered under Ankh's gaze. "No, I just, uh, didn't want to… you know, just lumping you together with all the Greed, that's not what I meant."

Ankh scoffed. "I am a Greed. My body worked the same as the rest of them--mostly, anyway. There's nothing to be weird about."

"Yeah, I guess so. I just remembered that you--you know, had a thing about…"

" _ What _ ?"

"About being alive," Eiji finally spit out. "And I didn't want to imply…"

Ankh stared at Eiji's anxious expression until he remembered to roll his eyes. "I've got a beating heart to remind me I'm alive now, I don't need you mincing your words to do it."

"Right."

They fell into silence as Eiji stirred the pot on the stove and Ankh finished another vegetable, but Ankh found himself stealing glances at Eiji and trying to puzzle out what in the world was behind that exchange. Their conversation earlier, too. Since when did Eiji think he had to watch what he said or hedge his intentions with Ankh? 

Eiji finally turned and caught his gaze. "You finished?"

"Huh?"

Eiji nodded to the cutting board. "With the chopping. Is that all of them?"

Ankh looked down to find his hands stilled over the last vegetable. "Tch. Yeah." He slapped the knife down and started to leave the kitchen. "That's all I'm doing, handle the rest yourself."

"Alright, alright," Eiji hummed, spilling the vegetables into the pot with a soft half-smile. "More than I expected from you, anyway."

Ankh couldn't abide any more of these half-spoken hints. Before he knew it, he turned around and snapped, "Then you expect too little."

Eiji gaped at Ankh, dropping the stirring spoon into the pot as Shotaro walked in the door. 

"Ah!" Eiji jumped and grabbed the spoon out, dropping it in the sink where he quickly rinsed his fingers with cold water. 

"You okay?" Shotaro questioned with mild alarm. 

"Mm, fine, just got everything ready!" Eiji answered. 

Ankh stalked back to his corner as Shotaro went to add the last of the ingredients he'd fetched. At least the detective's presence kept Eiji from asking Ankh what the hell that was supposed to mean. Ankh didn't have an answer he was willing to give.

The food was just being served when Philip emerged from the hangar. "I found one oddity," he announced, grabbing the bowl Shotaro prepared for him and digging in. "Nothing around the time of the death, the police were right that nothing showed up on the cameras. So I expanded my search to any instances the victim may have been recorded in relation to the stations on that line. He regularly used one of them to commute--his train card was scanned every weekday morning at approximately 8:10 am. He then commuted for approximately 35 minutes, with a reverse trip every weekday afternoon at approximately 5:20 pm."

"Okay, so you got his transit schedule," Ankh snapped, accepting the bowl Eiji foisted on him. "What's your point?"

Philip finished a mouthful of food before replying. "I was able to see him exit at his destination on the security cameras. The morning before his death, the timing was different. The card was scanned at 8:07 am, but he didn't get off at his destination until 8:58 am."

"So fifteen minutes later than usual?" Shotaro asked. "Were the trains delayed?"

Philip shook his head. "I checked the timetables. If he got off with the train that arrived immediately before he appeared on the destination camera, then he would have let two trains pass at the starting station before boarding."

"It would make sense for it to be at the starting station, if we assume his delay then had something to do with his death,” Eiji mused. “Since that's near where his body was found." 

"My thought as well," Philip agreed. "It might be nothing, but it is strange. It's not like there are any convenience stores or anything else to do within those stations that could have occupied him."

Shotaro clapped his hands together. "Okay. Let's send out the Bat Shot to keep an eye on that area. I’ll see if Terui can get some people patrolling around there too. Hino, would any of your can things be able to help with surveillance?”

"Yeah, I'll get the candroids ready! We should be able to send enough to have good coverage of the area.”

Eiji and Shotaro prepared to deploy the surveillance tech that night, and Ankh turned down Eiji's invitation to join with a show of vague disinterest. He wondered if this was a mistake once he was left alone with Philip, but it seemed that Philip’s searching actually did drain him--he merely finished a second helping of dinner then immediately collapsed in his bed. 

Ankh decided to follow suit, leaving the dishes for someone else to deal with and retreating to stretch out on his side of the bed. He spent longer than he would ever admit playing the day's conversations back in his head, but he was asleep before Eiji returned. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: death due to medical issue, corpse
> 
> Oof big gap but I'm back with some ~tension~


End file.
